The One Who Is Bound
by Dreaming of a Black Fox
Summary: [AU] [Obito-centric, time/dimension travel] [Unplanned sequel out] At first, they thought they were making a difference. And then the genjutsu broke.
1. No Light

**Summary (original): Obito hears out Madara's plan. In one world, he agrees and becomes Madara's pawn. In another, he rejects the idea. Now that Obito is against Madara much more earlier, how will fate play out? [AU]**

 **WARNINGS: OOCness, AU, abuse via fūinjutsu, blood, MPD!dark!Obito (later), medic!non-jinchūriki!strong!dōjutsu!Mokuton!dark!Naruto, alive!Minato, alive!Kushina, neutral!Gurguru, good!ShiroZetsu, brotherly!ObiKaka, missing-nin!Shisui, good!Itachi, SasuSaku, and MinaKushi.**

 **Anyways, my original plan was for this to be a one-shot, but that changed. It sounds like a good story idea, no?**

 **PLEASE READ. Now, let me make something clear: All "errors" are part of the "AU" part. So there's that.**

 **Recommended song: The Void by Konec, feat. Anna Yvette.**

 **Original word count: 3.4k~**

 **Enjoy my shitty story :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 1: No Light_

* * *

The young shape stepped out of the swirly shell, a frown marring his features as he soaked in what was just explained to him rather thoroughly. "I still won't work with you. It's infuriating, just thinking about you and your stupid and ridiculous plan. A fake reality?" Uchiha Obito's half scarred lips pressed together, his face scrunching up with disgust and anger. "Pathetic."

Uchiha Madara showed no reaction; he just sat there, breathing evenly and staring at his future pawn with tired Sharingan eyes. He sighed thoughtfully after a few moments, blinking before speaking. "I do not care what you think," he croaked, a glare rising that made Obito shiver. "You are _my_ pawn, _my_ knight, _my_ slave, _my_ bitch, the yang to the yin of _my_ plan…am I clear?"

Obito openly winced at the blood lust sent towards him, but he swallowed his fear, his Mangekyō eye spinning into existence and staring back with an equally intense glare. "I stand with what I speak. I will _not_ work with a weak, evil, old, irrelevant fuck who can't tell the difference between reality and illusion."

The sword suddenly tapped against the ground softly, and Guruguru reformed, slowly backing away. "Big mistake, kiddo," he said darkly in his doubled Shiro Zetsu voice.

Obito cringed at that. He could feel the back of his hairs standing on end, goosebumps forming underneath the blood-soaked cloak he wore whilst slaughtering the Kiri-nin. Suddenly, he felt hands on his wrists—and then something sharp cut into his flesh like a kunai, the sound of clicking following.

He gritted his teeth together, turning his head to the black figure. He froze; it had no real face, no hair, no real skin color, nothing to identify it has "human". He swallowed thickly, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrists due to fear. "Where the hell did you come from?"

" **Your nightmares** ," it hissed. It chuckled evilly, sinking ominously and slowly into the ground underneath his feet.

Then, he finally bothered to look down at his crimson-stained hands. He eyes widened; he was cuffed, and the cuffs had chakra seals carved into them. From the pain he felt not too long ago, he knew that it also had human seals—seals that tamper with the human body.

For example, writing a seal for storage on ones skin is a human seal, and connecting seals to nerves was another, only it's meant for torture.

He had three human seals, but he only recognized two: The Hageshī Shinzō Saiha and Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku. He'd seen the both of them in action, he's seen the pattern and memorized it to avoid the seals. He'd seen spies die from the seals after use of one time—twice, if they were lucky…but the second time around was always worse.

He looked up at Madara with a wide red Mangekyō eye, feeling lightheaded and on the verge of hyperventilation. "You're dead serious."

"He was never kidding around in the first place," Guruguru pointed out. He walked up to the younger Uchiha, his finger traced over two identical swirls and kanji's for "chained down" on both of the cuffs. He whistled, confusing and scaring Obito all at once. " _This_ seal…is…deadly."

"What does it do?"

"Psychological torture via genjutsu," Guruguru stated simply. "It can be bent at the users will. And if strong enough and programmed properly, then both the remover and original victim of the seal will experience the worst psychological pain ever. Plus, if someone intrudes, it'll instantly activate and backlash on both you _and_ the mind intruder! Neat, huh?"

"I would say that if _I_ wasn't the original victim," Obito muttered quietly. He turned his head to Madara. He debated for a few seconds before he sighed in defeat, his one good Sharingan eye disappearing and returning to its coal shade. "What now?"

Madara smirked. "I train you." His wrinkly face quickly hardened as he stood, making Obito take an instinctive step back out of fear. "And if you disobey…you're likely to die faster than you can even think to blink."

Obito didn't even think about stopping the shiver.

* * *

 _Two years later…_

* * *

A shaky and sad—but small and quiet—sigh left his lips, his hands rubbing against the metal of the cuffs that was loosely chained to the gunbai strapped around his back. He wore a fire patterned mask created from Guruguru's body, and the same dark cloak he wore ever since Rin died. The blood had never been washed out; it was clumped and crusted over, and it still smelled. But it fondly reminded him of the revenge he had gained, which was more than enough for him.

His damnable Uchiha warden couldn't seem to get that much.

"You're ready, correct?" Madara's annoying and croaky voice sounded, making Obito flinch out of fear, which was nothing new; over the two years, he grew smaller and smaller, becoming quieter and quieter and much more like a scarred kitten than anything. "Yes. You're ready. Now, go. Quickly. The birthing process is in a day, and you must gather intel."

The young Uchiha slowly nodded, still rubbing the cuffs. He had been training for two years nonstop. He learned how to manage with the chains and the gunbai rather flawlessly. His speed matched a Kage, and his evading skills were marvelous thanks to his Kamui. But he avoided using it for a reason.

He openly cringed when he remembered what had happened when he first used it; it was when he started week four of his training. He finally learned what his Mangekyō did, and he had consciously somewhat mastered it on his own.

He used it, and teleported to his own little dimension. But Madara had activated his chakra seals, and drained nearly all of his chakra to the point of where he was on the verge of severe, fatal chakra exhaustion. And just to pour some lemon juice on to the paper cut, psychological scars were inflicted upon him just as a an extra punch to the face. After that, he obeyed to a perfection, comparable to a robot on every level.

Uchiha Obito was already broke . Madara just shattered the broken pieces even more.

"Hurry," Madara said quietly, the light fading from his eyes. He had disconnected from the statue not even three minutes ago, and already he was dying. Once again, Obito nodded, and the eighty year old Uchiha closed his eyes, his chest stilling. A breath released from his lungs, relief washing over him as he watched the man finally die and crumble to dust.

"Guruguru," Obito mumbled.

The creature appeared out of the ground, swirly mask glancing up at Obito. Unbeknownst to anyone but Shiro Zetsu—who "didn't give a shit about what the stupid idiot does"—Obito managed to gain Guruguru's trust and loyalty, ultimately making the mutated human Obito's subordinate. "What's up?"

"Who else has control of the seals on these cuffs?" Obito asked, his voice quiet and pathetic sounding. He was still rubbing the carved metal.

Guruguru, if he could, would frown. Obito, to him, at least, sounded much more broken than usual. _But then again_ , he thought absently, _the seals are a sensitive subject for him._

He sighed thoughtfully, but then he also remembered that he was ordered to kill his sensei—the closest thing to a father he had ever gotten. "Kuro Zetsu, Madara and Shiro Zetsu…and ultimately any other seal master out there," he reported. "But currently, Kuro Zetsu is busy doing something…we don't know what, but Shiro Zetsu and I are supposed to watch over you."

The young Uchiha slowly nodded. "No one will speak of what happens to anyone after this. No matter what. No questions asked."

Guruguru nodded.

Shiro Zetsu appeared from the ground, eye narrowing. "What are you planning?"

"Are you on our side?" Obito questioned. He glanced at the white counterpart of Zetsu, his Mangekyō glowing brightly with a surprisingly fierce glow. "Because I won't tell you if you aren't."

A grin spread across Zetsu's face. "Will it include the excitement of battle?"

"Yes. Lots of it," the Uchiha stated.

"Then I'm all for it," he said devilishly. "What's the plan?"

"Attack Konoha," Obito's voice cracked loudly at that, "…get caught, and play the bad guy being turned good. Just to be convincible. Or somewhere along those lines. I just want to get away."

"Kuro won't be happy," Shiro pointed out.

"He's _never_ happy! Always so cranky and stuff…" Guruguru pointed out. "And besides, that useless sack of black goop can kiss my wooden ass." He swung said ass around to emphasize it.

A small but haunted and amused smile spread across Obito's lips. He teleported Zetsu and Guruguru into his dimension, flashing the dust that was Madara once upon a time one more look before teleporting away as well.

He landed softly on the stone of the Hokage Monument, Zetsu and Guruguru following. His eye widened, feeling giddy to feel fresh air once again in two years. He swallowed, and he felt his breathing hitch upon landing sight on the place he dreamed of returning to.

He was home.

Obito took the moment to just stare at the buildings; they were full of activity as the dusk did its job to put one half of the world asleep for a few hours. He recognized a few places such as Ichiraku's, the Uchiha Compound, his former apartment complex, downtown Konoha, Kakashi's apartment, Minato and Kushina's house, the local swimming pool, the Hokage residue—most likely where Minato was currently at with a very pregnant Kushina—and last but not least, the academy.

And as he stared closer, harder and sharper, he noticed the streets he had walked or ran down, the old people he helped, the training grounds he trained at with his team, and the shinobi he saw advance to Chūnin. His Sharingan soaked it all in.

He flinched when he saw silver, grey, green and black: Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai, people he would recognize even from up where he stood on top of Minato's hair spike. He cringed when he saw the two duke out a rather another challenge…quite _ridiculously_ , swinging hips as they started rock-paper-scissors.

Kakashi won, and Gai—from what he saw—proclaimed his usual five hundred plus laps around Konoha on his hands backwards. A fond smile made its way to his face regardless. _Nothing_ changed. Except for his and Rin's presence disappearing. That was the only change.

And then there was the newborn baby…

His fond smile grew big enough for his eyelids to crinkle up slightly.

"Remember," Shiro interrupted, "we're here to gather information for tomorrow night. At least _pretend_ you're here on task."

The Uchiha made no movement to show he acknowledged the interruption, but turned and walked away anyways. Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu used Henge no Jutsu, turning into identical twin males, both with brown hair, tanned skin and brown eyes. They had different boring colored yukata's, and sandals.

Obito just stayed as he was. He turned his gaze to the two, his Sharingan once again reflecting the world around them like a mirror. "What're you doing?"

"You spy on the ninja," Guruguru said in a normal voice, pointing a finger at Obito. "We'll be your cover."

Obito nodded. "But…first…can we check up on them? I still…"

"No harm in that," Zetsu said. A smirk appeared on his face as he turned into an ANBU with curly black hair and snake mask. Guruguru followed, wearing the exact same uniform. But instead, he had a lizard mask and dirty blonde hair. "Besides, we need to get as much information as we can. Oo! Benefits! Gotta love them, don't'cha? Hmm?"

"Hn," Obito simply grunted.

"Aw, c'mon, Uchiha- _chan_!" Guruguru joined in, skipping up to Obito's side and rubbing his arm against the fifteen year olds shoulder, making the latter flinch lightly. "You're no _fun_ …!"

Said Uchiha pushed the disguised ANBU away, staring with an irritated expression before walking off grumbling something about idiot spawns.

"Ah! You broke him, you idiot!" Zetsu cried dramatically as the two chased after him, both bickering about seemingly random things.

But only Obito seemed to notice the familiar presence in the shadows that had watched from the very beginning.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. He would return the favor. He turned his head to the two idiots. He lifted his cuffed wrist, flicking it and signaling them to go away. Zetsu was clueless at first, but Guruguru came back and literally dragged the former away. The masked teen turned his head towards the spot in the trees that were thin and further apart than usual forests, but thick and big enough to be considered a small forest.

"You may come out. They won't do anything until I allow it."

Said tailer hesitated, but jumped down from the tree anyway. The ghostly smile on his face became slightly bigger with happiness. _It was quite ironic_ , Obito silently mused, _to run into Hatake Kakashi after considering spying on him first._

"Who are you?" the Hatake asked. His eye narrowed, a kunai showing itself. "And why are you breaking into our village?"

"Village…" Obito repeated bitterly and quietly. Flashes of burning homes and corpses of children flashed across his line of sight, making him flinch; it had been part of the psychological torture, and still, he has nightmares about it. He rubbed his wrists again, fingers tracing over the markings. "I know this place like the back of my hand…" he murmured sourly and quietly, the words barely rolling off of his tongue.

He wanted to make the claim, but he also didn't want to. If he did, then he would cause pain to the future world. If he didn't, then he would experience even more psychological and physical abuse. It was a dilemma; his selfless part wanted the latter, and his selfish part wanted the former. But his selflessness was always his dominant side. He frowned.

"So you've lived here before," Kakashi concluded lightly. "So what? Doesn't mean you have to break in…"

Obito shook his head slowly, putting his arms down and making the chain loops tap against each other. He hid them underneath the crusted cloak, intently watching Kakashi's curious gaze.

"Who said I was breaking in?" he questioned, quieter than he would've liked. It was more like a whisper than anything. His voice was much more quiet in comparison to his attitude before he was crushed by the many boulders three years ago.

Kakashi either didn't hear, or ignored the quiet question. He slipped his kunai away, lifting his arms to show that he meant no harm. He stood like that for a few moments before taking a few steps forward.

But Obito had a mild case of aphensphosmphobia; he really didn't want anyone touching him without his consent. So it was only natural that he return the few steps in reverse, even though he trusted the Hatake. Kakashi paused. "Scared?"

"No," Obito snapped under his breath. "Cautious."

"…Are you in denial?"

" _No_."

"You denied it, though," Kakashi pointed out with slight mirth.

"I told you," Obito denied in a mumble, "I'm just cautious. Right now you're an unknown factor to me…ya know?"

"Well, if you aren't going to harm Konohagakure, I'm not gonna harm you. Fair trade?"

He only received a timid nod in response. Obito, in reality, had never actually touched a real human in three years. The only time he made skin contact was to either fight or kill. Three years, because it had been two years and seven months since his "death". And then add the three months he'd been resting and healing within the damnable cave after the rockfall.

So, once again, it was only natural that he flinched openly when Kakashi grabbed his hand and scanned the seals carved onto the metal cuff with his Sharingan. He nearly took a step back; he wanted to punch the shinobi away and get into one of his signature brawls.

But he couldn't. _Not until later…_

"These seals are lethal…" Kakashi murmured. "How the hell are you still _alive_?"

Obito quickly yanked his arm away, glaring as if Kakashi had done something infuriating or perverted…or somewhere along those lines, but the Uchiha made sure his glare showed that much. The Hatake sighed, putting his hands up on the defensive. "Sorry, sorry…"

The Uchiha didn't know how to respond. He just slowly nodded, taking a few unnecessarily large steps back.

The lack of true human interaction changed him more than he thought it would've; he didn't expect the mild case of aphensphosmphobia, or the way he turned out to be so quiet, or how sensitive and awkward he was gonna be to so many social activities, or how timid he became, or how comparable he was to a scarred kitten. He cringed. He had too many problems.

"…So," Kakashi started, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "…you're an Uchiha."

Obito lacked response. He just stared, but he made no eye contact.

"Did you defect?"

 _Not on purpose_ , was what he wanted to say. But instead, he said something else completely different, but it still indirectly pointed towards his original and hidden response. His voice was still quiet, though. "Stuff happened because reasons," he said, "and I just happened to be in the right place at the remembered time of arrival. Shit just happened, and I ended up here."

The Hatake raised an eyebrow in interest at the unintentional riddle. He pulled his headband over his left Sharingan eye again, a slight frown denting his features. "Interesting. Mind what brought on the little riddle?"

"It was unintentional," Obito replied quietly, "but solve it if you want…I could care less."

"Alright. I'm up for it," he said. "What do I get if I get it right?"

"Probably a kunai to the gut," the Uchiha murmured.

Kakashi twitched. "Sounds wonderful. But I am serious. It sounded like a challenge. What's the prize if I get it right?"

The masked man blinked. He rubbed his cuffs subconsciously, the clink of chains mimicking the movement of his hands. He sighed thoughtfully before another small smile spread across his lips. "…I could help you with your Mangekyō," he said still quite quietly.

The Hatake froze, his hands coming out of his pockets. His eye widened. "How do you know what about that?"

"I didn't," Obito lied. His smile widened, but it faltered and disappeared as if it was never there in the first place. "Now, start solving."

"Uchiha-chan~! We gotta go!" Guruguru's doubled normal inhumane weird ass voice echoed through the trees as he and Zetsu jumped down next to him. An amused smile twitched on his lips at the annoying antics they showed off. "ANBU are weirdos!"

 _Translation_ , Obito thought, _they're onto us._

The Uchiha glanced at him. "Oh yeah?" _What the hell happened?_

"They tried to put pants on our heads, but we successfully got our own pants off of our heads." _They knew that the ANBU we were disguised as were dispatched into separate missions, but we still got our information. No worries._

A sharp sigh left him at the randomness of the sentence. "Anything else?"

"Nope! Gotta go fast!" Zetsu cut in.

Obito proceeded to teleport them away back to his dimension, turning his head to Kakashi. He gave the other shinobi an eye smile, even though it was obviously fake. "Until next time."

The Hatake blinked. "Wait, what?"

But before anything further could be done, Obito teleported away. He softly landed on the stone floor, calmly staring down at the grey and lonely stone with a million thoughts flooding through his head at once. He sighed hopelessly. _I bet I took a bad step…_

However, the millions of thoughts were cut off when he felt sharp pains shoot up his arms as the nerve seals were activated. He shouted painfully, crouching down around wrapping his arms around his legs. He quickly pulled his glove off, biting his palm hard enough to draw blood in hopes of distracting himself from the pains of his vulnerable nerves being hit with loads of pure foreign chakra. He knew the routine—it happened to him numerous times, some worse than others.

He flinched every now and then, staying in the exact same position for a long time. He had lost count of the stretched out minutes. But eventually, it stopped, and he was left breathless and sweaty. He hated the nerve seals.

It was usually used for punishment.

Which meant that Kuro found out.

Which meant he _knew_. About everything that he was planning to do.

"Fuck…" he whispered, already feeling tears falling down his cheeks. Everybody in Konohagakure would be hurt—all because of two sentences he said to a man he once knew.

 _Fuck you, Madara…fuck you…_

* * *

 **"Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin": "Violent Nerve Breaker Seal"**

 **"Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku": "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Drainage of Strength"; "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Exhaustion"**

 **"Shiro": "White"**

 **"Kuro": "Black"**

 **"Guruguru": "Spiral"; "around and around"**

 **Huehuehuehuehuehuehuehue…I think I know what I'm doing…**

 **Preview:**

 _Is he…Obito…? A vital ghost of the past…?_

 **Peace! :3**


	2. The Masked Child

**Shikiyamachi: Thank you. And yes, Obito will still attack Konoha. But it'll end in an unexpected way. I honestly think it'll confuse a person here or there, lol.**

 **TammyHybrid21: Oh yeah, it'll hurt a few people. But not Kakashi. But that's spoilers. Lol. Thanks for your review.**

 **This is probably the second longest thing I've ever written in a long time. As I've said in the first AN, this was originally going to be a one-shot with 15-50k words. This reached 10k, and then I got bored with making a one-shot and voila, story!**

 **This is what happens when you're bored -_-**

 **Recommended song(s): Chasing Ghosts by Barely Alive feat. Spock & Directive, and My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up) by…do I really need to put the artist here?…it's so obvious…by Fall Out Boy.**

 **Word count: 3.9k~**

 **Enjoy my verdant chapter :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 2: The Masked Child_

* * *

"I run into the most interesting people, sensei," Kakashi said casually as he bit into an apple through his mask, sitting on the chair to the left of his twenty-four year old sensei.

Namikaze Minato, who was enjoying a bowl of leftover ramen, nodded absently. "Very nice."

"Met a masked kid, about my age," he started.

"Very cool. Keep telling."

"Has aphensphosmphobia, wears cuffs with rather lethal seals…the chains were connected to his gunbai. Poor thing seemed like he was being abused."

This caught Minato's attention. He swallowed the remaining food in his mouth, putting his chop sticks down. He wore his serious, no-bullshit face. He blinked. "Lethal seals?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. I managed to scan them with my Sharingan. He was willing, but he was scared. He was very quiet, too. I had a hard time hearing him. If it wasn't for my enhanced senses as a shinobi, I probably would've had to be right next to him in order to hear him."

Sympathy crossed Minato's face, pity showing in his eyes. He stood, pulling a piece of paper from the counter, a fine brush and some ink. He put it down in front of Kakashi. "Draw all the seals you saw. It's a worldwide law. Nobody can use seals for abuse of any sort," the Yondaime stated sternly.

The fifteen year old Hatake nodded, pulling his headband up to reveal Obito's Sharingan, and he started drawing. The blonde haired Namikaze watched intently, eyes watching the brush fly against the paper smoothly and perfectly. Once he was finished, he couldn't stop his eyes from widening. "There you go," Kakashi said.

" _These_ …" Minato murmured in shock, "…were all created by both Jiraiya and me, for the Second and Third Shinobi War…but they were deemed too dangerous whence used because of their lethality rate…"

"So someone stole knowledge," Kakashi said. He sighed. "Or leaked it."

"Who did it makes no difference," the Yondaime said. "This isn't good…if these seals are on the loose, and has potential of common knowledge, than a Fourth World War will start just to test them out."

This made both males silent. The only sounds was the outside winds and the calming buzz of oblivious civilians.

Minato broke it. He glanced at Kakashi. "Where is he right now? Do you know?"

"Well…he left. He has some sort of teleportation jutsu, and two other really weird companions," Kakashi explained. "I didn't get his name…but one of them called him 'Uchiha-chan'."

"A rogue Uchiha?"

"You know, I asked the same thing. But then he gave me a riddle, and said if I got the right answer, he'd teach me how to control the Mangekyō," the Hatake stated.

Minato's eyes flew wide. "He knows about that?"

"Actually, he didn't. I was too caught up in my shock and I blurted," he assured sheepishly. "But…I memorized his scent, signature and looks. I'd know him when I see and sense him, promise. For now, just breathe—focus on Naruto and Kushina. Tomorrow's the tenth of October. It's gonna be a harsh day."

Minato slowly nodded, standing and putting his bowl of ramen in the sink. He glanced at the Hatake. "Alright…I'm trusting you. Good night."

"'Night."

* * *

Obito winced again, sliding down against a stone wall, and wrapping his palm up in gauze to prevent the wound from bleeding any more. He sighed tiredly. "Kuro seems to know something…did either of you spill?"

Both of his other oddball companions shook their heads. Guruguru scooted closer, his mask undoing itself and wrapping around Obito. The Uchiha sighed again, not even bothering to do anything about it. It was just Guruguru's weird way of comforting him, or something along the lines of that.

"My clones are still in the works," Zetsu pointed out. "They can't say anything…not yet. The only way Kuro-baka could ever obtain information would be to follow us and eavesdrop."

 _"I bet he eavesdropped,"_ Guruguru said. _"It sounds like something he would do. The bastard is full of cruel mirth."_

Obito couldn't stop the shiver. He lowered his chin onto Guruguru's knee shell, sighing for a third time. "My life is just one big fat Hell Land, isn't it? First I 'die', then Rin dies, then Madara torture's me with fūinjutsu like I'm his whore and now _this_ bullshit. Not to mention, I have to kill my fucking sensei and steal the Kyūbi while also keeping it at bay for god knows how long and destroying half of my home and more then half of my home population. Fan-fucking-tastic, ain't it?!"

Zetsu blinked. "Well, on the bright side, you are taking a step towards rejoining your friends."

 _"Oh, well will ya look at that!"_ Guruguru exclaimed. _"He's pep talking! How unique! See that, Obito-chan? You've changed him!"_

"Hn," Obito grunted. "So, what information did you guys manage to get?"

"The birthing process is going to be held outside of the village, way out by the Konoha lake that is formed from the Naka River," Zetsu reported. "Mid wives are Sarutobi Biwako, Haruno Saki and Kuchiki Yo. Namikaze-chan is the seal compressor, and guards are Ki, Ryū, Go, Jiraiya, Baka Kakashi and Mizu. Defenses are harsh, but you can get through them. Worst case scenario is you use Naruto as an escape route."

"Naruto?" Obito asked.

"The kids name."

"Ah, okay." He slowly nodded, sighing. "What are you two gonna do?"

"Simple," Zetsu replied. "We're gonna be your guards, if you go along with your original plan of being caught. We'll be the ones who keep you distanced from certain people like Danzō."

The Uchiha simply nodded again, closing his eye. "I'm exhausted."

That was all that needed to be said to quiet the world around him. He drifted off into an uneasy sleep, twitching from nightmares until Guruguru saw it fit to wake the boy up.

 _"Wake up, Obito-chan,"_ he said calmly. _"It's time to get going."_

Said boy's eye opened. Guruguru unwrapped himself, revealing the cloak of Obito. The Uchiha stood in his spot for a few seconds, sighing tiredly. He stiffly stood, glancing tiredly at Guruguru and Zetsu, who were both standing and waiting for him. "You're both ready, I presume," he said quietly.

"Yup! I was just waiting on you," Zetsu replied cheerfully. But his demeanor turned serious a moment later. "Are you gonna kill Namikaze-chan?"

Obito paused. He knew his answer, and he stayed with it from the beginning when the plan was suggested. But he lied, and he was nervous. He did not want Shiro to know right away, and Kuro could be anywhere because of his damnable ability to blend in with nature.

He absolutely hated it; it made him paranoid and uneasy no matter what he did to assure himself that the thing wasn't anywhere nearby. He just really hoped that "accidentally falling into the hands of Minato" did something—anything. Even if it didn't work, he hoped it did something.

So he just settled with a smirked, his quiet voice cracking with exhaustion. "You'll see…"

Then, he teleported to the outside world alone.

* * *

Kakashi shivered, goosebumps rising. He felt very uneasy and cold all of a sudden, albeit it was warm inside the Hokage Tower since the heat was on. He looked through the window to the outside. It was the tenth of October, the day Naruto would be born. It was a rather cold day, and clouds were gathered overhead. Already, snow was spilling. An early winter. A bitter smile spread across his lips, for some reason remembering the masked man from yesterday.

The uneasiness returned, though. It was worse this time. He warily glanced at the living room, where he heard Minato, Jiraiya and Kushina at chatting about whatever. They sounded carefree, but they were ninja; they couldn't ignore an uneasy feeling like the one Kakashi felt.

He frowned, standing up from his seat in the kitchen dining room and quickly exiting the mansion, jumping up onto the roofs of the homes of citizens towards the Hokage Monument.

He made it within minutes, though he was breathless by the time he reached Minato's mug. His eye widened when he saw who he was looking for. He controlled his breathing, and slowly made his way towards the masked man. "I thought you left for good."

Obito flinched, uncrossing his arms and making the chains known once again. He turned around, glancing at Kakashi. "I never really left," he murmured.

The Hatake simply nodded. "Minato-sensei knows about you and those seals; he wants to help you."

His gloved hand stroked the seal carvings again. "I bet he wouldn't say that if he knew the consequences."

"He and Jiraiya-sama made those seals," Kakashi pointed out.

"…So they know how to break it without causing damage?" Obito questioned.

The jōnin blinked. "I'm not sure, but—"

The flare of Minato's chakra made Obito flinch back a few feet. He pulled a kunai out of his sleeve, holding it up in his usual fighting stance. But the chains were showing and it made him uneasy. Thus, his red eye blazed with fear and defense as the Yondaime appeared next to Kakashi. The blonde frowned at the Hatake.

"You suddenly ran off. Is something up, Kakashi?" he questioned, oblivious to Obito for a few seconds before he turned his head to where his student's gaze remained. The Kage blinked, before his face hardened. "Who's he?"

Kakashi glanced at his sensei. "This is the masked man I told you about. Remember?"

Minato blinked again before his face expressed an odd look akin to sympathy and pity. He eyed the chains connected to the gunbai and Obito's wrist. "So you're the one Kakashi ran into yesterday." He smiled, "You don't need to worry. You can put the kunai away. None of us mean any harm."

Obito still hesitated. Kuro Zetsu could be anywhere at the time, and he didn't want the risk of being hurt. _But then again…_ he thought, _I'm a necessary asset to the plan…Kuro Zetsu wouldn't kill me without Madara's consent…_ Slowly, he got out of his stance, slipping the kunai back into his sleeve. But he kept his senses sharp, and his guard up. He didn't want Kuro Zetsu to bother him, even though he knew that the former was watching him.

Minato smiled. "Glad to know you trust me us at least to that consent." He gestured to the chains. "May I?"

Obito's eye narrowed. "No," he muttered. He subconsciously started rubbing the cuffs again out of habit, shaking his head. "Not yet…"

The blonde Yondaime's expression went from sympathy to a frown. "Why not?"

He blinked. "Because…" he stated quietly, "you'll be busy. I'll…you'll get to it eventually, just not right now…"

Minato narrowed his eyes before the widened in realization, Kakashi also staring in surprise when he, too, got what Obito meant. "…You know. How the hell do you _know_?"

A small smile appeared on his lips, invisible to the rest of the world. He didn't give out a response, though. He just stood there, the only disturbance to his frame being the wind.

"You won't interfere, right?" Kakashi asked almost hopefully.

Obito was about to answer truthfully, but he knew who was watching. And even if he replied truthfully, he would attack either way because of Kuro Zetsu. His eye narrowed. "…I make no promises whatsoever," he replied, making them freeze. "But if it were to happen…in the end, you'll appreciate it."

Minato would've thrown a kunai if it wasn't for the fact that the masked man was already gone in the blink of an eye.

* * *

 _Later that day—night time…_

* * *

" **You _will_ be successful** , **whether you like it or not**. **If you fail** , **punishment will be all three seals activated at once**. **Do I make myself clear**?"

Obito slowly nodded, his Kamui activated. "Yes…"

" **Good** ," Kuro Zetsu said. " **Hurry**."

In a swirl, the Uchiha retreated from his dimension, landing behind an ANBU who was guarding from the rooftop. He wrapped on of his arms around the ANBU's neck, choking him to "death". He softly set the "dead" body down, using the same trick on the other outdoor ANBU guards.

When he finished "killing" them, he used Kamui to teleport straight into the room. He landed in the shadows, hearing wails of a newborn child. Everybody suddenly tensed, looking around the room; Kakashi didn't hesitate. He pulled up his headband to reveal his Sharingan, his eye almost instantly landing on Obito.

He yanked out a kunai, swiftly throwing it at Obito's head—but it hit the wall instead, making it known as grit fell. His eyes narrowed. "We know you're there. Come out."

Obito smirked, stepping out and staring the seven other ninja down with his Kamui. A pink haired middle aged woman and a young-looking brunette were quick to pull out kunai's, standing in front of Sarutobi Biwako—who held little Naruto. He eyed the newborn, deciding against it to use him.

He had just came for Minato and Kushina. Nothing more, nothing less. He had no desire to drag anyone in…he didn't even want to drag Minato and the _Kyūbi_ in at all, and they were the reason of this attack.

"You're the kid Minato told us about," Jiraiya observed. His dark eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you after? Naruto? Kushina? The Kyūbi?"

His eye narrowed. "Hn. I'm just following orders," he said as Kuro Zetsu, Shiro Zetsu and Guruguru got teleported out of his eye. The instant they landed, they sunk into the ground. Barely even three seconds later, Guruguru's hand came out of the ground by Biwako's ankle, a kunai cutting into her Achilles foot. She cried out, falling to a knee. Guruguru then jumped out of the ground, grabbing baby Naruto and quickly hiding behind the Uchiha.

Minato's eyes widened. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Obito eyed Guruguru. _What_ are _you doing…?_

" _Rasengan_!"

Obito glanced at Minato, quickly using Kamui to teleport him into the dimension. Everybody's eyes widened, Kakashi speaking up, "What the hell did you do?!"

"Nothing," he shot back. "You two," he gestured to Kakashi and Jiraiya, "are next."

Before any of the two could react, they, too, were sucked into the dimension, followed closely by Guruguru and Obito himself.

* * *

All three shinobi landed roughly, rolling and falling onto either their backs or stomachs. Guruguru and Obito landed like professionals, though. Little Naruto remained silent, breathing evenly and taking in Guruguru as if he was a parent of some sort.

Obito flicked his wrist, and quickly, Guruguru jumped away with the blonde newborn. Then the Uchiha turned his attention back towards the other three intruders. His eye narrowed. "Welcome to my own personal little dimension. I hope you like it here."

Minato was the first to make it to his feet, followed by Jiraiya and Kakashi. The blonde glared, Hiraishin kunai in hand. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I don't know," he responded truthfully. "As I said before, I am just following orders. There really isn't much I _can_ answer…"

"If that's the case then tell me where Naruto is, or else I will have this kunai stuck in your gut faster than you can blink," the Yondaime both threatened and demanded, lifting said kunai.

"You need not worry," Obito assured genuinely. "Naruto will not play any factor in this. I just don't trust him being around Kuro…" He made sure to whisper the last part; questions would rise, and he didn't want to suffer the threat Kuro Zetsu had pointed at him earlier. Naruto truly did play a factor, though. He was the thing that kept Zetsu from doing anything; the latter needed the child Namikaze because of reasons unknown to Obito, albeit vague and slightly ideal.

"I asked where he is, not as to whether or not he's in danger," Minato hissed vehemently. His glare intensified, becoming darker and much more scarier. Obito would've flinched if he hadn't compared it to Kuro or Madara's own glares.

"Hn," was the final word spoken before the dimension was filled with fighting.

The first move was made by Minato. He used chakra to push off the ground, sharply cutting back and forth to try and throw Obito off. But his Sharingan detected the future movements—he dodged the upper cut that was aimed for his chin, sidestepping and leaning on his right leg. His left leg lifted, aiming a knee to Minato's chest.

The blonde jumped back far enough to dodge it, not hesitating to move forward to stab his Hiraishin kunai into the Uchiha's gut. But his wrist was grabbed by the masked man. Time seemed to slow down when he saw the cuff on the masked culprit's wrist, albeit it was brief in real time. But he saw details. Just for a split second.

Minato couldn't observe any further. Obito kicked him in the jaw while also twisting his wrist to the point of a mild sprain that was on the verge of a breaking bone. He back flipped away, though it was clumsy. He landed next to Jiraiya, a frown furrowing his brow. "Sensei," he murmured.

"What?"

"The Kyōka Fūin is a swirl with a solid circle in the middle, right?" he asked.

"…Yes," Jiraiya replied thoughtfully. "Why ask?"

"He has it," Minato stated. "A Kyōka Fūin. It enhances Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin, Shinrisensō Fūin and Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku."

The Sannin stared in surprise. He looked at the masked boy. It truly was a surprise to find someone who had the seals for a long time, and lived to see the next day. They were lethal, and thus, became kinjutsu for a reason. He cringed, sympathy spreading across his face.

"In any case," Kakashi butted in quietly, "we need to get out of here."

"You can't," Obito interrupted. "Not without my consent. I'm your only way in, and your only way out. Period."

" _Rasengan_!"

His eye widened; he hadn't noticed the clone. _How did I not notice?_ He grabbed the handle of his uchiwa gunbai, blocking the Rasengan behind him. Then he caught the Hiraishin kunai that was aimed straight for his chest. He quickly dropped it, jumping backwards as Kakashi charged him with Chidori.

He continued dodging his former teammate, swiveling back and forth. He finally made a move; he swung his gunbai, causing a blast of wind to throw the Hatake backwards. But he was quickly caught by Jiraiya.

Obito barely had enough time to react as Minato appeared next to the Hiraishin kunai, only a few inches away from Obito's mask. The latter blinked, using Kamui to teleport to the outside world. He quickly teleported back into his dimension, landing behind Minato. The Uchiha kicked his former sensei in the calf, pulling out the kunai he always kept hidden in his right sleeve.

He made sure to aim for the back of his neck, but was promptly interrupted as Kakashi's Chidori cut off his hand. Instead of the scream or shout and crimson blood they expected to hear and see, they received a glare and _white goop_.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock. "What the…"

Obito scoffed, his one-eyed gaze landing on the Hatake. "Troublesome." He quickly twisted towards Kakashi, kneeing the latter in the chest and making him cough. The victim of the kick jumped back, nursing the growing bruise and wheezing for air.

The Uchiha backed away, practically glaring at the white oozing stump of what was once his hand. _There goes a perfectly fine arm._

"What the hell are you?" Kakashi rasped in shock.

"It's an artificial arm," Obito replied simply. He raised his left arm, crafting his fingers into half of the horse hand seal. Chakra charged in his chest, and he spat out a wall of fire. " _Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu_!" The heat spread across the entire rectangle of stone, reaching the trio of shinobi. He didn't see what happened, but he smelled steam.

 _Water barrier, then_ , he silently concluded. His sensei did have the Water Release, he hadn't forgotten that much. But the jutsu was more of a distraction than anything; he did it in hopes that one of them would form a plan to break open his mask. It was the key to his plan, and he didn't have enough time to form a way to manipulate them into making said plan.

His most eligible plan was temptation. It was worth a shot, but it had risks he didn't want.

Kuro Zetsu was still watching, he could feel it.

" _Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu_!"

The flood of water pushed through the dying flames, rushing water roaring in his direction. He teleported out of the way, teleporting himself back into the dimension and landing next to Guruguru, who was a quarter of a mile away from the battle. The Uchiha glanced at the two, his eye on Naruto longer than it was for Guruguru. "How is he doing?"

"Fine," Guruguru replied. "But he's getting whiny. Should I do something?"

"He…might be hungry," Obito murmured. "I don't know. I'm nowhere near fit to be a parent, let alone a baby professional."

Guruguru laughed lightly, his voice holding mirth. "Wanna hold him?"

"No," Obito objected. "Now is a terrible time. I'm in the middle of a battle, you know."

"I'm messing around. What, can't take a joke?"

The Uchiha didn't stop the glare, but it quickly dissipated. "Whatever. I just need a new hand. Are there any Zetsu clones in this dimension yet?"

"Sorry, but no," Guruguru replied. "Not yet, anyways. I can't provide anything, I'm holding this cute little bundle of joy."

Obito scoffed. "Don't get attached. We're giving him back."

"What, can't take any love, either?"

"I hate you. With a passion. It burns with hatred as I speak," the masked teen shot back dryly.

"I love you too, Uchiha-chan."

The Uchiha stared before speaking up again in his quiet voice. "Question…why did you take him?"

"Kuro Zetsu's plan was to make you kill Minato and Naruto to provoke Kushina into releasing the Kyūbi," Guruguru explained with a surprisingly serious tone. "And then you were to use the Kyūbi after extracting it from Kushina to destroy Konoha."

"…So you're helping."

"Of course I am! It's not like I'm just gonna sit on my artificial ass and do absolutely nothing!"

Obito simply snorted, cutting the growing bicker off as he teleported back to the battle field. He came back to an exhausted Kakashi leaning on Minato, Jiraiya at the defense. The Sannin narrowed his eyes, getting into a taijutsu stance with his kunai in hand. "Where is Naruto?"

The masked Uchiha blinked. "Out of danger," he replied. He, too, got into a taijutsu stance, "You should appreciate the favor. Kuro wants the brat dead."

The words surprised the three, each of them mentally piecing the puzzle together. Minato narrowed his eyes. _So he's protecting Naruto to some consent_ , he thought. _Who is he…?_ The blonde man stared at the cuffed mysterious Uchiha. "Who are you?"

Obito smirked. _I've caught you in my web._ "Nobody. Just a ghost of the past," he riddled out. "A vital one, if you must."

Jiraiya scoffed, and quickly dashed forward. Obito met him halfway, and the two quickly got into a fight of traditional kata, each landing blows and each blocking with grace.

Minato frowned. The masked man's kata was foreign—old and ancient. Nobody knew the moves he was performing. He blinked. _An ancient style of kata…Uchiha…vital…ghost of the past…_ His eyes narrowed. _Is he Uchiha Madara…?_

The chains being wrapped around Jiraiya's wrist and twisting the Sannin onto his back quickly changed Minato's mind.

 _Uchiha Madara wouldn't become so pathetic and weakened._ He frowned openly. _Then who is he? Is he a student of Madara? A descendant? What and who is he?_ He paused in his thoughts, his eyes widening when his thoughts trailed to someone Uchiha he knew and remembered quite well. _Is he…Obito…? A vital ghost of the past…?_

* * *

 **"Kyōka Fūin": "Enhancement Seal"**

 **"Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin": "Violent Nerve Breaker"**

 **"Shinrisensō Fūin": "Psychological Warfare Seal"**

 **"Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku": "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Drainage of Strength"; "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Exhuastion"**

 **"Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu": "Fire Release: Majestic Flame Destroyer"**

 **"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu": "Water Release: Great Water Technique"; "Water Release: Art of the Great Waterfall"**

 **"Rasengan": "Spiraling Sphere"**

 **"Chidori": "One Thousand Birds"**

 **'Kay. I'm done. There's a poll on my profile. So if you're bored, go do that. Or something.**

 **Preview:**

He stumbled back a few steps, groaning in pain as he put his hand over the gaping hole…

 **Peace! :3**


	3. As I Advance, I Hold Your Hand

**TammyHybrid21: Just because your review made me smile, I posted this chapter. TT^TT just gimme a sec, I'm feeling over-emotional ;-; thanks for your review…**

 **Shikiyamachi: Pfft, I'm just awesome, no? And thanks, I enjoy making battle scenes. I'm a visualizer, and a perverted one at that. It's both a gift and a curse -_-…and no, how can I ever resist the pout? Your review alone made me want to post this shit, so how can I resist the friggen pout? Thanks for your review :3**

 **Recommended song(s) (why should I even put the parenthesis there? I'm obviously gonna put more than one song on here…): Sell Your Soul by Barely Alive, feat. Jeff Sontag, Sell Your Soul by Hollywood Undead and Eyes On Fire by Blue Foundation (Zed's Dead remix).**

 **Original word count: 3.9k~**

 **Enjoy my splendiferous story :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 3: As I Advance, I Hold Your Hand_

* * *

The moment Minato's thoughts trailed towards Obito, all other thoughts, movements and fights were roughly interrupted when seemingly all of a sudden, a black skinned, hairless creature jumped out of the ground, punching the masked man in the cheek. The force threw him into a block of cement, making it crumble into the abyss below upon impact.

Obito coughed, his head throbbing from the chakra-infused punch Kuro Zetsu gave him. The left side of his mask was shattered, the jaw part being the only thing left in contact on that particular side. The right side was simply cracked. He slowly stood, his Kamui eye glaring at the black creature.

Kuro returned the glare, his voice full of more enmity than usual. " **You little shit** …"

" _Katon: Endan_!" Jiraiya spat out ten fire bullets, all aimed for Zetsu. The latter dodged easily, weaving through the burning bullets with grace that annoyed Obito to no end. He managed to quickly reach Jiraiya in a bout of sudden speed after the tenth bullet raced past his face, his arm pulled back and charged with a chakra fist.

Obito quickly turned his gaze to Jiraiya, teleporting the Sannin away to the real world. Zetsu's fist met air, the charged up chakra dispersing into air.

Kuro turned his head to Obito, his blank expression making the Uchiha flinch. It was emotionless and unreadable—but it was fierce. " **You're just _wishing_ for death** ," he hissed. He raised his hand, his index and middle finger pointing up to the darkness above. Chakra pulsed, and instantly, Obito's eye widened.

Before any pain came to him, he quickly teleported Kuro out of the dimension. He jumped off of the crumpled down rectangular stone plaza, landing softly on the larger stone surface where Minato and Kakashi were at. Kakashi looked like he was on the verge of passing out and Minato was just shocked. The latter was staring at him like he was seeing a mauled corpse walking on its own, and that was starting to scare Obito ever so slightly.

The blonde gaped, his eyes widening even more as his eyes trailed after something that was behind Obito. "Watch out!"

Obito's eye widened. He whipped around, and saw Kuro Zetsu again. He stared in shock, frozen in his spot, and overly confused. _I teleported him out of here. How is he—_

His train of thought was cut off by pain. It came from the center of his stomach, numbing his body like he was stabbed numerous time. He felt something wet drip. His eye widened. He wheezed, coughing up a glob of blood as he finally realized what had just happened to him. The remaining crimson liquid spilled down his chin, dripping onto his cloak as he gritted his teeth together.

Zetsu chuckled dryly. " **Don't think you can get away from everything so _easily_** , **_Obito_** ," he said coldly as he pulled out his bloody arm from his stomach, making Obito gasp and cough up even more blood than before.

He stumbled back a few steps, groaning in pain as he put his hand over the gaping hole.

" _Raikiri_!" The lightning blade cut through Kuro's abdomen quickly and roughly, "killing" the creature in an instant. The two body pieces fell, but Obito knew that cutting the thing in half wouldn't do anything much. It'd only slow him down.

Kakashi quickly caught the Uchiha as the latter started falling, slowly putting the Uchiha's head down on his thighs as he sat on his knees.

Obito coughed again, feeling his head rest on Kakashi's lap. He stared up at the silver haired jōnin for a few seconds before he closed his eye, trying his best to ignore Rin's voice as she started telling him about her death, what she felt, and her final emotion—it was all part of the fūinjutsu, though. Using Rin for psychological torture had happened to him one other time; he nearly snapped, and he would've if it wasn't for Guruguru.

Not to mention, his physical pain was quadrupled, thanks to Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin, and Kyōka Fūin; his chakra was slowly, but surely, being drained away. Emotional pain was unmeasurable. It hurt listening to the words spoken by the dead illusion. Internally, he chuckled darkly, a tiny and near unnoticeable remorseful smile growing on his half covered face. _Kuro was right…I'm wishing for death, aren't I?_

 _"…And you should've seen the blood! The blood was ridiculous…it tasted really bad…did you notice the way Kakashi look? His expression was so fucking_ priceless _—and so was yours, too! Did you see those Kiri-nin…? Haha! They were absolutely horrified!"_

Obito cringed at Rin's rant. He could already start seeing a burning Konoha, a dead, mauled and bloody former Team Minato, and himself being the cause of it all. He swallowed a forming lump in his throat as he slowly opened his eye, feeling droplets on his cheek coming from above—right where Kakashi's face hovered.

 _…He's crying…_ he silently realized.

"…Y-you're alive…" the Hatake murmured sadly in realization. "…You're _alive_ …"

The Uchiha glanced up at his former teammate, grimacing when he saw the results of the psychological torture that was mellowly happening in the background. Half of Kakashi's face was burned, and a chunk of flesh was missing at the base of his neck, like something bit out of it, and he was drenched in his own blood.

Then he looked at Minato; his sensei had no right arm, and there was a slash across his chest. He, too, was sitting down, only he was by Obito's stomach, obviously trying to heal him. Both were covered in small and deep cuts and bruises.

The Namikaze sniffed. "Your cloak is covered in blood…where did it come from?"

Obito closed his eyes again, a weak and short-lived sigh leaving his throat. "The Kiri-nin…" he whispered, "…who made Rin a jinchūriki…"

Kakashi froze. "You… _saw_ that…?"

 _"Couldn't miss that shit for the world!"_ Rin cried—literally _cried_. She laughed like a maniac, insanity soaking her next sentences. _"Now, I_ demand _you tell me why you didn't save me! You had a_ chance _, Obito! And you didn't take it! You weak little bitch!"_

The Uchiha winced, not trusting his words. He just settled for a small nod, tears pricking at his eye. It wasn't because of the pain, or the fact that he was slowly losing consciousness; he was listening to Rin's words, and it bothered him. She was throwing insults at him, and was starting to kick him. He simply twitched his finger every time she "kicked" as a reaction; it could barely rival the pain he was currently feeling.

Minato blinked, his worried gaze turning towards Obito's wrists. He narrowed his eyes, stopping Shōsen Jutsu and lifting up the sleeve. His eyes widened. _Shit…all three of the seals are activated._

"Sensei?" Kakashi glanced at Minato. "What's wrong?"

"We have to get him out of here," he said sternly. "Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin, Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku and Shinrisensō Fūin are activated along with Kyōka Fūin. If we stay here any longer, he's gonna die very quickly."

Obito felt Kakashi stiffen. He chuckled lightly, opening his eye and glancing at his former sensei with his Kamui. He smiled bitterly. "Tsunade is in Kin no Sato," he rasped. "Go get her."

He blinked dumbly, opening his mouth to question it, when suddenly, he felt himself get pulled out of the dimension. His eyes widened as he landed in a clearing, frozen in shock.

Meanwhile, Obito was starting to shake; he could feel himself shutting down from the physical and mental stress he was experiencing, and he knew that he needed to stay awake. Naruto and Kakashi were still in the dimension—and one of them was not even an hour old.

"Guruguru," he said quietly as he looked up at the still crying and half burned Kakashi.

The Hatake blinked, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Who?"

"He's talking about me," the doubled voice of Guruguru said.

Both shinobi turned their heads towards the swirly masked spawn. Obito cringed painfully when he saw him, as Guruguru was soaked in blood. Naruto, however, was untouched by the illusion—thankfully. Guruguru sat down across from Kakashi, shifting Naruto around so then the newborn was still comfortable. Kakashi blinked dumbly, sniffing. "What are you?"

"Brother clone to Shiro Zetsu, I guess you could say," Guruguru said. "My name is Tobi, but my nickname is Guruguru, thanks to this idiot here." He poked Obito's shoulder, making the latter flinch. He scoffed lightly. "You're in more pain than I thought…are you planning on dying here?"

"He had Minato-sensei to go and find Tsunade," Kakashi pointed out quickly. "I don't know how he's going to get back though…"

"His Hiraishin kunai is still here," Guruguru stated, his face turned towards the kunai. "He can teleport back. Here, take Naruto." He put the newborn in Obito's right arm, ignoring the pained glare he was gaining from the Uchiha. He picked up the kunai, returning to his spot a second later with the kunai looped around his finger. He swung it around and around in a circle.

Obito stared, half of his attention towards the pain of severe chakra and physical exhaustion. "…Take the brat…will ya…?"

"Sorry, I have a sharp object," Guruguru shot back. "Babies can't be around sharp objects, silly!" He giggled.

Kakashi internally sighed, his fingers playing with a few strands of Obito's hair as he started bickering with Guruguru. He noticed the little things as he continued staring: How the scars were imprinted on his skin, how the Uchiha got paler and weaker by every passing second, how haunted he looked, how comparable he seemed to a scarred kitten…

The Hatake grimaced beneath his mask. Once he gave it thought, Obito was much more quieter than from what he remembered. He also remembered how uneasy the Uchiha was around him and Minato—how scared he looked underneath his shattered flame patterned mask. _I wonder if he'll still act like that after we get him healed up…_ he thought.

The wet coughing and crimson blood that followed snapped Kakashi out of his thoughts. He glanced down at the Uchiha, noticing that he was almost as white as Guruguru. His breathing was rasped and wet from the blood in his throat. He looked absolutely exhausted. His one remaining eye was glazed over, giving Kakashi the "dead" look he was all too familiar with.

Guruguru took Naruto, putting the newborn back into his arms as Kakashi pulled Obito closer, digging his face into the dying Uchiha's crown. He felt more tears fall; they were falling uncontrollably, and he didn't like it.

Guruguru sighed heavily. "Shinrisensō Fūin ain't being very nice today…"

Kakashi ignored the mutated human creature, just staying in his position for what seemed like eternity. He felt Obito's chest rising and falling slowly, and he could practically hear the battle as Obito fought to stay conscious. It seemed like hours passed before Minato's chakra signature flared, both him and a woman he presumed to be Senju Tsunade landing next to Guruguru.

"Who the hell are you two brats?" the woman, who was then undeniably Tsunade, demanded.

"You need not worry," Guruguru started, "for I am awesome! And I'm Obito's companion. Name's Tobi, but I'm called Guruguru, thanks to that moron," he pointed at Obito, "who is currently dying. Glad you could make it."

"Whatever," Minato said. "Kakashi, how is he doing?"

"Terrible," the Hatake replied hoarsely as he finally let go of the Uchiha, gently putting his head down. "He's practically dead at this point…"

"Tsunade-sama…" the Namikaze started, but he was waved off by the Senju.

She shooed Guruguru away, sitting on her knees next to Obito. She pulled up his sleeve to reveal the seals that seemed to be the center of all problems. She sighed. "You weren't kidding when you said that the seals would be lethal…the only way to break them would be to enter his mind," she said. "If Kyōka Fūin is on here, then even _I_ won't be able to break the cuffs without hurting him…"

"Understandable," Minato muttered.

Tsunade turned her gaze to the hole in the fifteen year olds gut. She swallowed thickly upon seeing the blood, standing still for many moments, but she sighed. She lifted her hands, and started performing a stronger version Shōsen Jutsu while keep her eyes on her knees, whereas Minato was performing the weaker stage of said jutsu. Her eyes narrowed for a few seconds as her hands scanned his entire body. They widened dramatically after she was done scanning Obito. "What the fuck…" she murmured.

"What?" Kakashi asked frantically.

"G-genjutsu!" she exclaimed. "This entire place—genjutsu! _Kai_!"

Suddenly, Guruguru, Obito and Naruto disappeared as the genjutsu was broken, followed by the rectangular stone blocks. Everything was replaced by grass—they were in a clearing, surrounded by trees. The moon was their only light source, and in the distance, they saw the lights of Konohagakure no Sato.

"What the hell…" Minato whispered. His eyes widened in realization a second later. "Where's Naruto?!"

"Calm down!" Tsunade hissed as she stood. "Stretch out your senses. You can feel him, can't you?"

Once Minato calmed his mind down—which took a full minute—he stretched out his senses, sensing around for little Naruto and Obito. They managed to find the two of them. They were all the way out towards the north, a quarter of a mile from where they were. And there was a third and fourth signature. None of them knew who the third and fourth were, but Kakashi had a feeling one of them was likely Guruguru. "Come on," the Hatake said as he nearly gagged on the scent of Obito's blood, "we have to hurry."

None of them waited; they all dashed towards the four quickly moving chakra signatures.

* * *

"So, mind telling me what this is all about?" Shiro Zetsu questioned. "Taking Naruto and running away, I mean. Why did you do that? You said you'd return him, correct?"

"Kuro Zetsu is out there," Obito croaked. Guruguru was wrapped around him once again, his blood-stained cloak on the outside along with the uchiwa gunbai. There was a hole in his stomach where Kuro Zetsu had stabbed him earlier, and it was still extremely painful. Guruguru was the one who was moving him. His head was exposed, his arms underneath Guruguru's twisted and swirly skin in order to carry baby Naruto, whose head was poking out enough to let him breathe.

When he spoke, he spoke quietly—he was back to his old self: His comparable-to-a-scarred-kitten self, "He's most likely waiting for Naruto by Kushina-chan…ready to kill him…" He coughed up a large glob of blood, wheezing for air as Guruguru continued jumping from tree branch to tree branch.

"That's true, I guess…" Shiro mumbled. "But what about Potato-chan and Tomato-chan? Surely they would want their brat back…"

"They will," Obito said hoarsely. "But…Kuro Zetsu is our problem. Not theirs…I don't want to drag them into the situation…"

 _"He's basically protecting Naruto,"_ Guruguru explained telepathically. _"And he's being a selfless idiot by not dragging Naruto's parents in by dragging their child in. Ha! Stupid plan. Just admit it, you want to raise him."_

"No. Shut your mouth," the Uchiha rasped.

 _"Ooo~, he's in denial~!"_ Guruguru cackled.

Obito scoffed irritably, glaring. "Just shut up."

The sharp and irritated voice made Naruto uneasy. The newborn shifted, whimpering as he became aware of the moving world around him. Obito winced, holding Naruto closer in attempts to keep the kid warmer. He shushed the newborn Uzumaki, slowly lulling him back into sleep.

Shiro Zetsu whistled. "Well, you'll be a good daddy. But where are we going to live?"

"…I don't know," Obito muttered quietly as he pulled the rest of his shattered flame patterned mask off. "But first thing is first…we need to lose Minato-sensei…and then heal up…well, I guess a hospital will do. Do you think that's worth the trouble?"

 _"We have a newborn brat, and we are rather clueless,"_ Guruguru pointed out. _"I think a hospital is the best choice right now."_

"Reasonable," Obito murmured as he tucked himself further into Guruguru's hollow body. "They're here."

Shiro Zetsu stopped tree jumping rather abruptly; he sunk into the bark. Guruguru, on the other hand, wrapped the rest of his body around Obito and Naruto, slipping the hood on over his head to make it seem like he was Obito, considering the gunbai was on the outside as well, strapped around his back.

Obito tried to reactivate his dōjutsu, but flinched painfully. He didn't have enough chakra. He sneered. Kamui was his prime escape, and while he did have alternatives, they were all reckless. He had a newborn in his arms; he couldn't do anything about it.

"I can trust you to the fighting, right?" Obito murmured to Guruguru.

 _"Yes,"_ he responded. _"Just make sure Naruto stays intact."_

A small and thin smile made its way to Obito's lips as he internally nodded half to himself. He tightened his arms around said newborn, bracing himself as he felt Tsunade's signature approach them with her chakra fist. It advanced closer to the point of where her fist was only an inch away from the back of Guruguru's head, and he didn't move until the last minute. He quickly ducked backwards, arching his back and aiming a kick for Tsunade's face.

The Sannin blocked, backing away when she heard Obito grunt in pain; she knew that she had to be careful, mainly because he was the one who knew where Naruto was at. She jumped back a few branches, Minato and Kakashi joining her side a moment later.

Guruguru himself landed softly and carefully, slowly standing up. _"Can't even move without hearing you drown in your misery. Do you need a band-aid?"_ he teased.

Obito simply scoffed, grimacing when he saw what Tsunade, who had no head. "Let's just get this over with…" he whispered under his breath. He could already feel Naruto squirming under the blankets.

"You're Tobi…" Minato said. His eyes narrowed. "Where are Obito and Naruto?"

"They're both here," Shiro Zetsu said as he pulled himself out of the ground. He grinned. "You should watch your punches, Tsunade…"

The three stared for a few seconds, confusion clouding their expressions. Guruguru giggled, rushing forward with his hands in the ram hand seal. A wooden stake grew out of his left hand, and he threw the projectile. It aimed straight for Kakashi's right arm, successfully hitting and allowing more branches to duplicate and tear through flesh from the inside out.

Tsunade stared in surprise at the technique—a _Wood Release_ technique. But, of course, her surprise was her downfall as she felt pain in her abdomen; it duplicated, and she found herself coughing up blood as she fell down roughly onto her back, making the wound worse.

Minato's eyes widened. He dodged the first projectile, but was caught by Guruguru. His winced as he felt his badly sprained hand get gripped underneath a strong hand, his left thigh being impaled by the wooden stake. The wood went through and through, the extra branches pinning him down to the tree trunk. Guruguru, then, pulled his hood off, his face opening up to reveal an alarmingly pale and bloody Obito. The latter was panting, and he looked like he was really dead. "O-Obito—"

"Don't…" the Uchiha murmured. "Don't follow…Kuro Zetsu… _will_ kill me and Naruto without any hesitation."

"But…we can protect you…" Minato pointed out slowly and quietly.

"No…" Obito said, coughing wetly. He slowly shook his head. "He's impossible to kill."

The Namikaze paused at that. He blinked slowly, trying to think of some sort of alternative. He knew when someone was dead set on something, and Obito was dead set on getting Naruto away from Konohan civilization instantly. The blonde slowly reached out, his hand ruffling Obito's hair. A small and reluctant—but genuine—smile spread across his lips. He also left a Hiraishin mark. "Alright…just…come visit some time…okay? And bring Naruto with you…please…?"

Obito simply nodded, Guruguru closing up again. He slipped his hood on, and continued jumping away. Shiro Zetsu followed, and they left behind a silently crying blonde Kage, a cursing and sputtering injured Sannin and a quiet silver haired jōnin to wonder what the hell just happened to him.

* * *

Obito's eye snapped open to hear the sharp and ghost-like voice of a baby. He shot up in alarm, his eye frantically searching the white room he was in. But he was roughly pushed back down by firm hands. His head snapped towards the person, who turned out to be a nurse. He glared. "What are you doing?"

She blinked, giving him the "are you fucking dumb" look. "What do you think, Uchiha-san? You're in a hospital, and you're perfectly safe here. So don't get all jittery on my ass. Now, tell me, what woke you up? I predicted that you were to wake up in a month, not a week."

Obito blinked, indirectly avoiding the question. "That's how long I've been out? Seven days?"

"Yes…" the nurse muttered. "You were experiencing physical, emotional and mental trauma and stress, not to mention, you lost almost seventy percent of your blood and you had a failing heart. And to add to that already ridiculous pile of bullshit, you had severe chakra exhaustion to the point of where your organs were on the verge of failing. What the hell have you been doing that got you all jacked up, anyway, huh? And these _seals_! Don't even get me started on these stupid seals. They were a pain in the ass to deactivate because of that damnable Kyōka Fūin…"

Obito blinked again. "You're a fūinjutsu master?" He didn't necessarily say "shinobi". Mainly because back in his genin days, he met a few civilians who knew some jutsu's, though they were not really shinobi.

"Yes. I am…sort of…a good friend of mine taught me some fūinjutsu…" she said, her pink hair matching her cheeks. "But I am a medic kunoichi…"

"That's nice," he murmured. He looked outside the window. It was evening, from what he could tell, and it looked like it was going to snow again. "Where am I, exactly? I don't really recall anything happening before I woke up here…"

"Well, your…oddball friends showed up with a newborn and you," she started explaining, "and you had passed out long ago. I don't know where your buddy's are anymore, but they won't cause any danger to the other patients, will they? 'Cause they sure as hell didn't look very human."

He closed his eye. "They won't cause trouble…they're curious, but they won't cause trouble…" he murmured. "Where's Naruto?"

"You mean the newborn?" He nodded. "Where the rest of the newborns are at. I presume you're his guardian or something?"

"…You can say that," he muttered quietly.

The nurse adapted an odd look before continuing, "Well, if you're clueless—"

"And I am."

"—then I'll give you a list of what you should do, and what you should not do, and how you should do certain other things, and what things you need to look after. And if you want, I can give you training if you need any," she said. "He'll be discharged at a different time as you, maybe earlier, maybe later…I don't really know, it just depends on his condition. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Yes. What's your name?" Obito questioned as he glanced at her after opening his eye.

"Uh, my name?" she asked. "My last name? Or my full name?"

"I could care less," he grumbled. "I don't think calling you Pinky-chan—"

"I don't like that name," she said in a bitter sweet manner. She smiled. "So I'll go ahead and tell you. My name is Haruno Sakura."

* * *

 **"Katon: Endan": "Fire Release: Fire Bullets"**

 **"Shōsen Jutsu": "Mystical Palm Technique?"; "Art of the Mystical Palm?"**

 **"Raikiri": "Lighting Blade"**

 ***cough***

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **…Don't give me that look. Ya'll shouldn't be surprised if you visited my profile; there are status's of upcoming chapters, and the story plot itself.**

 **So don't give me that look.**

 **And yes, I can TOTALLY see you. *cough***

 **So, yeah. That happened.**

 **Anyways, yes. Minato was reluctant. Yes, OOCness on Tsunade's part. Yes, angst. Yes, I had to laugh out loud to get rid of the feels. Really, I had to. That's why I have two best friends, two friends and, like, fifteen acquaintances. They all think I'm fucking weird. Sort of. They give me _those_ looks.**

 **Anyhow, after the next chapter, there will be a seven year time skip, a major surprise, and another time skip by Chapter 8 or 9. And then the story will most likely end at, like, chapter 13 or something. I hate writing long-term stories, even though I have long-term plans.**

 **Makes shit rather choppy.**

 **Preview:**

"I would not stress about it. Worrying about the little things will add a grey hair to that bright pink hair of yours."

Sakura blinked dumbly. "Are you _kidding_ me? This is _huge_! He's fucking _dead_ , and you're telling me _not_ to worry about it?"

Obito turned his head towards her, abruptly stopping the walk and narrowing his eye again. "Yes."

"What the _fuck_ ," she seethed silently. "Why are you so relaxed about it? Shannarō!"

"I am not relaxed about it," he shot back, "because my world is on the verge of shattering." He started walking again, pressing the elevator button to go down to the first floor. It rang, and the two stepped in. "I _expect_ you guys to not mess up…"

 **Peace! :3**


	4. Within the Beams of Warmth

**TammyHybrid21: Haha, I just love how you're mad at Kuro at one second and then sad about Obito another second later XD this chapter has more fluff towards the end, but other than that it's just POV and theories. Next chapter will be even longer and will have lots more feels. Probably. Might be chapter 6, but I'm not a psychic. And "Potato-chan" came from another fanfiction. I forgot what it's called, but Sasuke and Itachi switch places, and Sasuke calls Minato "Potato-chan" and Kushina "Tomato-chan". Thanks for your review.**

 **Shikiyamachi: Lol. That's good to hear. And Sakura will play a factor in this, and so will Sasuke. To some consent, I guess. And this chapter (towards the end, at least) shows Kushina…uh, well, never mind, you'll just havta read ^_^ lol, thanks for your review.**

 **Such frequent updates. I know. But Ive had so much time on my hands because all of my friends are out of town or spending time with visiting family that it's making me feel lonely…lol.**

 **THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN FOR THIS STORY. And this still doesn't beat my longest, which is 4.6k. Original word count: 4.5k~**

 **Recommended songs: Our Demons by The Glitch Mob (Filous Remix) and Time Bomb by Feint & Boyinaband feat. Veela.**

 **Enjoy my fantasmagorical chapter :p**

* * *

 _C_ _hapter 4: Within the Beams of Warmth_

* * *

"Explain. _Now_. Why didn't you get Naruto back?" Kushina seethed.

Minato winced. "I…tried…but he refused to give him back."

The Uzumaki glared, smashing her fist on the chair. " _And that was enough to hold you back_?!" she screamed.

Kakashi winced as well. "Let's start from the beginning," he began timidly, "we were fighting pretty desperately to get him back…but we learned who had taken him…"

"And who was it? Huh? Whoever it is, I'll find him and crush him dattebane!" she shouted.

"It was Obito," Minato stared bluntly. "He…lived, and was taken in by this thing that wants Naruto dead."

Kushina stared in shock, her rage quickly forgotten. "O-Obito? He's…he's _alive_?" she sputtered.

"Maybe," Kakashi murmured from his hospital bed. "That thing, or 'Kuro Zetsu' got him pretty bad. He was practically dead."

The Uzumaki paled dramatically, her lips forming a thin line as she turned her head towards Minato for answers. "And we aren't searching for him _because_ …?"

"He wanted us to stay away," the blonde murmured. "Apparently Kuro Zetsu is near impossible to kill. He wants us to keep away from both Kuro and himself."

"That's not like him…why is he running?" she questioned.

"Well, you see…" Minato started nervously, knowing that what he was about to explain to his wife was going to infuriate her, "…he, um, was treated like, um, I guess you could say…" he paused, his voice cracking when he continued a few seconds later, "…a slave. He had lethal seals on the hand cuffs that were chained to a gunbai…"

The red haired Uzumaki's face went red with fury. She stood up, her body shaking with rage. "Minato," she said.

The Namikaze froze. "Y-yes, sweetheart…?"

"I'll be back in a bit," she said as she turned and stomped off, slamming the door shut. An unfortunate nurse just so happened to bump into her, making her shout, "Move, you whore!" before proceeding down the hallway.

Minato shivered. "That poor girl…"

* * *

Sakura was beyond confused. She, along with the rest of Team Kakashi, had hopped back eighteen or so years because everybody but themselves had gotten caught up in Mugen Tsukuyomi after it was cast. Even the Obito of that time got caught up in it. Now she was back—she didn't know where Kakashi was, but he was most likely in Konoha, Naruto was probably in his infant body and Sasuke was out gathering information about Madara and Obito's whereabouts, since they weren't in Mountains' Graveyard anymore.

But Obito was here, and she had more than enough time to tell him. He wasn't supposed to be discharged along with Naruto for another month or so. Her options were be blunt and calm, or be hostile and interrogate the hell out of him all the while scaring the shit out of the poor kid.

Being blunt seem more appropriate, so she went with that.

Not to mention, she was his assigned doctor and nurse. So it would be so much more easier on her.

She slid open the door, her eyes trailing towards the Uchiha. She blinked. "Your up."

He turned his head towards her, blinking and giving her the "of course I am" look. He simply nodded, his eyes trailing back to the mountain that could be seen outside. He was staring at it, and she didn't know why. She walked up to him, sitting on the seat next to him.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, Sakura shifting uncomfortably every now and then as time passed by. Obito finally turned his head back towards her, his unsurprisingly calm façade making her feel slightly more uncomfortable. "…You look like you want to talk," he spoke surprisingly quietly.

The Haruno blinked again. _Was he always this quiet? From what I remember, he was a confident shinobi with power…now he's just comparable to a scarred kitten…_ "Uh, I do," she said. "Uh, do you believe in time travel? Or dimension travel? As in, a parallel dimension, maybe?"

"Dimension travel is eligible," he stated. "Parallel is a little bit harder to believe, but it's possible. Time travel is impossible. Simple as that."

Sakura frowned. "What makes you say that?"

Obito stared at her again, before continuing with slight reluctance, "First off, there are souls. There can only be one of each, so if there are two souls existing at once, than the weaker one would shatter and scatter. Second of all, if you were to go back, you would need to turn space backwards along with the world. Space is infinite. Not even the bijū can accomplish that, even when combined and completed. Time travel is impossible, but combined with dimension travel, it should be possible."

"What makes you say that?"

"When time travel is done in an original dimension, it'll inevitably get destroyed because souls would be duplicated and that can't happen. Which is why there is always a secondary dimension—a copy of the original. If anybody were to survive the destroyed first dimension, they would travel to the second. But there will be error because of the extra few souls, and as a result, the secondary dimension will be different in some sort of aspect," Obito explained.

Sakura looked surprised. "You know a lot about that kind of thing."

The Uchiha slowly nodded. "I've been doing research on it ever since I was a kid. I created a jutsu that probably doesn't work that centers around that theory," he murmured. "I taught it to a friend. Don't even know if he'll use it…I don't even know if he _remembered_ it."

Sakura waved her hand in dismissal. "No, he remembered."

The one-eyed teen glanced at her, his eye narrowing. "And how do you know?"

"Hatake Kakashi used that jutsu on himself, me, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto," she replied.

Obito stared at her, hiding his surprise. "Prove it. What are the hand seals and the requirements?"

"Requirements are the souls that wish to travel, and more than one chakra signature. Hand seals are ram, horse, monkey, dragon, tiger and ram," she said.

He continued staring at her, searching for any source of lies she might've told, but found none despite him using tricks Madara taught him. "Fair enough. So, why are you here?"

"The Mugen Tsukuyomi was cast, and we couldn't break it," Sakura explained. "Kakashi-sensei used Ijigen Jutsu, and we ended up here a few hours ago." She frowned, "Actually, I got a job here not even fifteen minutes after you showed up. Happened on the spot."

"So you arrived fifteen minutes prior to my arrival to this hospital," Obito concluded half to himself. He chuckled dryly, looking outside the window again as a small and unnoticeable smirk formed on his face. _I wonder who's freaking out more…?_

* * *

 _One month later…_

* * *

"I'm _bored_! How much longer?"

Obito turned his head toward Guruguru, glaring at the mutated spawn of whatever. His expression screamed "sit down and shut up, or else I kill you", but Guruguru brushed it off as nothing. Both mutated humans did nothing over the last month. Obito, on the other hand, was trained by Sakura; she taught him how to feed a newborn, what to do after feeding the newborn, how to prepare a bottle for a newborn, and so forth.

It was exhausting—Naruto had to be fed every two hours the first few weeks, and he was stuck with it half of the time. And while it was exhausting, he found it to be worth it, because now he wasn't as clueless as before. Plus he gained patience.

But his patience was running thin with Guruguru asking constantly when the group could leave the hospital.

"Stop terrorizing the poor thing," Shiro Zetsu said. "You might break him…"

"I don't _break_ him," Guruguru argued back. "I _bother_ him. There's a _difference_."

"No there isn't."

"Your mom."

"Do you _ever_ shut your mouth?"

"You wish," Guruguru shot back.

Obito glared at the two, little baby Naruto staring at the two bickering clones with wide, dark and undeveloped eyes. The Uchiha sighed, purposely blocking out their bickering and turning back to the four week old at the end of the bed, who laid on his back on a spread out orange-red blanket—the exact same blanket he had when he was taken from Konoha. Sakura had washed it, and had also given him some new clothes, blankets and other stuff.

Thing was, he didn't have a house.

But he was thinking of building a new one of the mountain via Wood Release. It was close to civilization, but it was far enough to retreat from danger for just in case. Not to mention, it was surrounded heavily by trees, and there was a small lake on the southern side—next to where he planned it on being.

Perfect for training, too.

"—fuck yourself!"

Obito's head snapped towards Shiro Zetsu and Guruguru, death glaring the two of them down. "Repeat that," he snarled. "I _dare_ you to repeat that."

"R-repeat what?" Shiro Zetsu stuttered, obviously surprised by how mad Obito sounded.

Obito narrowed his eyes. "That's what I thought," he muttered, turning back to Naruto to swaddle the newborn up to go. "We're leaving any second, you know. Sakura is literally down the hall to inform us…"

Shiro Zetsu opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the hospital door opened, said doctor strolling in. She turned her green eyes towards the two clones. She sighed. "I could hear you two all the way down the hall. Please keep it down, will ya? I'll be getting an earful if the head doctor hears of this…"

"Can we leave?!" Guruguru exclaimed eagerly.

The Haruno eyed him, annoyance making her face twist. "No."

"Dammit…" he whined.

"I still have to discuss some things with Sakura," Obito pointed out. "Go to the southern base of the mountain. I'll meet you guys there."

"'Kay. See ya later, Uchiha-chan~!" Guruguru waved, sinking into the ground along with Shiro.

Obito turned his head towards Sakura. He stared for a few long lasting moments, expecting the pink haired dimension and time traveling kunoichi to speak. She stared back, shifting underneath his stare. She squinted. "Your stare is ridiculous."

He blinked. "You looked like you wanted to say something," he said. "I was simply waiting."

"You're killin' me," she dead panned. She sighed. "Well, anyways, before you leave—"

"I'm not leaving," he interrupted. "You think to run around with _this_?" He gestured towards the cooing little Naruto.

"Okay…well, anyways…let's just say that your soul theory is true, about the duplicate soul thing," she continued. "What happens to one of the souls?"

"It's a battle of purity, really," Obito started, "…whichever has little to no hatred will win."

Sakura frowned. "Naruto defeated his hatred at Shinjitsu no Taki, though. So wouldn't he have won?"

"Not necessarily," Obito said. "It depends on what he fought it against; was it an aged person or a newborn?"

"Well, it was a newborn…" she murmured.

"Then the newborn would obviously win," he stated bluntly. "Newborns know nothing of the world; they would win because of how pure their souls are."

"So…what of the Naruto we know…?"

"Gone. Dead." Obito winced at her pained look. His calm façade turned into a sympathetic look. "Shards of his soul are still around, some fragments here and there to influence thoughts…so he isn't really gone. You'll know what I mean eventually."

The Haruno frowned, her hands brushing through Naruto's hair, making him turn his head to stare at her with wide eyes. "Is he…a jinchūriki?"

"If he was, then he would be in Konoha under the protection of her soldiers," Obito pointed out. He swung his legs over the bed, stretching and standing up. He scooped Naruto up, looking at Sakura. His eye narrowed as he walked up to the door, strolling out of the room with Sakura closely following with Naruto's baby bag over her shoulder. "I would not stress about it. Worrying about the little things will add a grey hair to that bright pink hair of yours."

Sakura blinked dumbly. "Are you _kidding_ me? This is _huge_! He's fucking _dead_ , and you're telling me _not_ to worry about it?"

Obito turned his head towards her, abruptly stopping the walk and narrowing his eye again. "Yes."

"What the _fuck_ ," she seethed silently. "Why are you so relaxed about it? Shannaro!"

"I am not relaxed about it," he shot back, "because my world is on the verge of shattering." He started walking again, pressing the elevator button to go down to the first floor. It rang, and the two stepped in. "I expect you guys to not mess up."

"Okay, first off, I have no idea what I'm doing," Sakura shot back, "and second of all, it's not my fault! Disaster happened."

"You tip universal balance off just by existing," Obito pointed out quietly. He sighed. "Look, just keep doing what you're doing. I know my stuff, and if anything off is happening, don't freak out."

"How do you know so much?" she questioned. "The Obito of the initial dimension was so much more different…"

"Well, Obito-ichijikai shanked people with power first and then knowledge," Obito replied. "Obito-nijiteki—me—shanks people with knowledge _first_ , and _then_ power. I just so happen to know a lot more about dimension and time travel theories than most."

"Impressive," Sakura admired with a grin.

"Hn." His Sharingan eye spun into existence, his Kamui molding and activating. "I'll be living by the southern base of the mountain. Have Kakashi stop by sometime. The bastard and your other companion need to be informed of certain things as well."

The Haruno simply nodded dumbly, watching as the rogue Uchiha disappeared into his dimension, leaving her to ponder in the silent and empty elevator.

* * *

"You know, I find this to be complete and utter BS," Guruguru remarked as he followed Obito through the mountain's forest. There was a thing sheet of mist on the floor, reflecting the dawn. He sighed childishly, kicking a pine cone into a tree. "Settling down is complete and utter BS, too. I don't wanna calm down. I wanna travel and beat Kuro's ass! Why can't we do that?"

"Because logic suggests that a newborn baby can't handle the outside world like we can," Obito dead panned. "And besides, this place is good for hiding. I can hear a waterfall nearby. We should be getting close to the place where I want to settle down at."

"How the hell do you know this place?" Shiro questioned as his eye scanned the forest surrounding him. He snorted. "Did you sneak out?"

"Yes." Obito stopped walking, looking left and right. He stretched his hearing, and found a silent clearing not too far away from the waterfall to his right. On the other side was a stream, but the area was much more messier and had more dangerous wildlife in it. So he turned right, stepping over a fallen tree trunk. "Kamui works wonders, doesn't it?"

"Cheater," Guruguru huffed.

"Ninja cheat. That's fact," Obito countered. "By the way, if you two are going to bicker, you are sleeping outside. If you guys even _think_ to wake Naruto up, then you're going to be the ones who take care of him. I am dead serious about that."

Shiro squinted in amusement. "He used proper grammar. He's _super_ serious, Tobi-chan—" He stopped talking when he gained a one-eyed glare, settling for a grin of amusement while he shut his mouth.

"Since your so _serious_ right now," Guruguru started, "what's the plan? You know we can't keep Naruto for eternity, no matter what. He's going to question your actions pretty damn soon once he gets to a certain age."

"He won't," Obito muttered. "He'll return to Konoha when he's seven, around the time when he's age-appropriate to survive on his own as a ninja."

"We aren't in war anymore," Shiro Zetsu pointed out. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh by your guys' standards?"

"This peace is an illusion," Obito countered smoothly and quietly. "I can just see it. Kuro is undoubtedly lying low to start the Fourth World War."

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was a man of composure and strength. He was perverted, lazy and sometimes an annoying little smart ass, but he was still powerful. He could kill without any hesitation, and he had a strong and fearsome reputation for a reason.

He was the creator of the Chidori and Raikiri, and wielded a Sharingan despite him not being an Uchiha thanks to his alive and breathing Uchiha friend and former teammate. He expected odd things to happen to him, both expected and unexpected.

What was happening to him was both; he expected Ijigen Jutsu at work, but he didn't expect Naruto to be "kidnapped" and to _not_ be made a jinchūriki. He also didn't expect for both Minato and Kushina to be alive, and he sure as hell didn't expect Obito to be a tortured "villain". It didn't happen last time, so he couldn't help be ask himself so many times what had changed Obito.

 _Possibly…_ he thought. _It might be possible that Naruto travelled further back…and influenced Obito…it somewhat explains why I haven't run into him…but where are Sasuke and Sakura?_

"…arged."

Kakashi turned his head towards Minato, who turned out to be talking to him. The Hatake blinked dumbly. "Hm? Did you say something, sensei?"

The Namikaze sighed, glaring. "Your characteristics are annoying me more than ever. I'm starting to miss the brat with the stick up his ass."

"Uh…sorry?" Kakashi apologized in a questioning manner.

Kushina giggled, mirth sparkling in her eyes. "Don't be. The sissy is just mad because he was talking to you for two minutes straight about hospital discharges and whatnot."

"…Oh," Kakashi mumbled. It was all he could manage, really. He was still not used to their presences being back, albeit it was true he was extremely glad that they were alive and not illusions created from his mind like how he was used to seeing during his ANBU days. "When are we being discharged?"

"You're being discharged later today," Minato stated irritably. " _I'm_ stuck here for another week. And even after that, I'd have to walk around with crutches for another few weeks. Wonderful, isn't it?"

The Hatake stared. "That's nice. Is Tsunade-sama staying in Konoha?"

Kushina sighed. "She said that won't decide yet. But I wouldn't be surprise if she did leave. The poor woman isn't exactly in the best shape 'ttebane."

 _And let's hope she doesn't stay that way for much longer…_ he thought. He looked at the aggravated Minato. "Aren't you going to do anything about it? Having her around will be extremely beneficial, you know…"

"Who _doesn't_ know?" Kushina grumbled half to herself.

Minato shook his head. "We have enough chaos going on right now. Besides, I dragged Tsunade-hime through something unnecessary. I don't need to drag her through anything else."

"That's fair…I guess…" Kakashi murmured. He blinked. "When are we going to visit Obito and Naruto?"

"When I'm out of this damned hospital," Minato stated. "We've been stuck in here for an entire _month_!" He slammed his hand on the pillow that was resting on his uninjured thigh like he was slamming his hand on his desk. "I'm _sick_ of it! Do you have any _idea_ how much paperwork I have to catch up on?! This is _ridiculous_ , I'm getting too old for this shit…"

Kakashi simply sighed, tuning out his sensei's ranting and focusing on his own thoughts in his own world.

And _somehow_ , he found himself waking up on Minato's couch inside of his house. He blinked dumbly, quickly sitting up and turning his head towards the kitchen where Kushina was cooking ramen. His blinked again.

"Morning," she said. "You slept pretty good. Heard ya talkin' in your sleep about Obito. Is he your new lover now?"

Kakashi rolled his eye. "It's not my fault…"

"Ah, so you have a subconscious desire for him dattebane!"

" _No_."

"Now you're in denial~, ooo~!"

"Kushina…"

She grinned in amusement, dishing up ramen and passing it down to him as he sat at the dining room table. "I'm teasing, I'm teasing…"

He rolled his eye again, taking the chopsticks she handed out to him and breaking them apart. "Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu dattebane!" Instantly, Kushina started eating.

Kakashi rolled his eye for the third time, and started eating through his mask miraculously soon after. "So what happened? I don't remember being discharged from the hospital," he said.

The Uzumaki paused, chewing the rest of her food with an alarmingly serious face. "You fainted from exhaustion," she explained. "Doctor gave orders to just let you rest, so you were discharged from the hospital, and I've kept an eye on you ever since. You slept for fifteen hours straight, did ya notice that?"

The fifteen year old jōnin slowly nodded. He had probably the best sleep in a long time, but for some reason he didn't remember it. He just remembered drifting off into Wonder Land and pondering over everything.

"Kakashi, is something the matter?" Kushina asked. "You've been caught staring at me and Minato quite a few times, and not to mention, you collapsed from physical exhaustion, which suggests you haven't been sleeping. Seriously, man, don't be dishonest with me dattebane! Your future lady will pummel you if you ain't telling her anything."

It was true, Kakashi hadn't been sleeping at all during the past few weeks in the hospital, if staying up all night and staring up at the ceiling for many long hours didn't say anything. He got sleep, but when he did, it was light and it showed off potential and upcoming nightmares. He sighed in aggravation. "Nothing's wrong."

She glared. "Yeah, and the Kyūbi loves humankind. C'mon Kakashi, don't pull a dick move. You know that we'd listen, regardless of the oddity of the problem."

 _No_ , he thought, _the "oddity" of my current situation doesn't even need a scale to rate how odd it is._ He settled for a reluctant sigh. "…Okay, okay. I've had a _little_ bit of trouble sleeping…" he mumbled. "And adding to the fact that Obito is alive and is emotionally and psychologically tortured isn't helping. At all."

Kushina sighed, staring down at the broth in her ramen bowl. "…What's he like now?" she questioned quietly.

Kakashi paused himself, thinking back to the month before. "…Still an idiot, I guess," he murmured. "Quiet and timid, and comparable to a scarred kitten. But he's gotten rather strong, considering he managed to keep up with all three of us without gaining any sort of wounds."

"So he got away unharmed?"

"Far from it," Kakashi said. "This black creature thing," _AKA Kuro Zetsu…_ "came out of literally nowhere. It ended up punching him into a cement block, while also activating all three seals and punching a hole in Obito's stomach."

The Uzumaki gaped like a fish, she stood up, slamming her palms against the table with an infuriating expression. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" she shouted, making Kakashi wince in surprise. "Why didn't Minato do anything about that?!"

"He-he was too busy helping me…" the Hatake muttered guiltily. "Sorry…"

Kushina's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, I didn't know that…I'm sorry, it's not your fault."

The Hatake simply shrugged, continuing to eat the ramen in silence. But it didn't stay silent for long. Kushina spoke again, "So, anyways, did you hear the rumors about Kiri? They've finally elected a new Mizukage. He's actually a jinchūriki, believe it or not…"

* * *

 _Three weeks later…_

* * *

"Is that the last of it?" Obito questioned Guruguru, who was literally dragging in a box of heavy materials.

"Yes," Shiro Zetsu anose red for the cursing mutated human as he stepped onto the porch, giving Guruguru a dead panning look at the latter disappeared down the hallway. "Everything's set up! We have our own personal electricity and water source. Neat, right?! Haha!"

Obito rolled his eye. "Yes. Very. It's a wonder as to why I picked it."

The house they made via Wood Release was decently large, enough to support all four of them and even a few more. It was half built into a cliff made by Obito himself as cover. It connected to an underground cave, which would act as a bunker should anything bad happen. The entrance was sealed, and only two of the four occupants could open that seal. Guruguru and Zetsu could just sink in.

The house itself was only one story, but it had a kitchen, a dining room, a guest room that could be called a wreck room, Naruto's room and Obito's own room next to it. And while Naruto's room still had yet to be occupied—because the kid wasn't ready to sleep on his own, if the crying-in-the-middle-of-the-night dealio didn't say anything—it still had stuff in. It was also locked, thanks to Zetsu…borrowing…some door knobs from citizens' homes.

They didn't have enough money yet. They had used it all up paying for the hospital bill.

Obito sighed tiredly, sitting on the front porch with little Naruto sitting wobbly on his lap. He stared out at the small clearing, about to speak, when Guruguru suddenly started shouting curses. The Uchiha grumbled something under his breath, making the seven week old newborn in his arms grin and coo randomly. "What now…?"

"Random person just randomly showed up!" Guruguru exclaimed from the apparent dining room. "Stupid Hiraishin…and stupid heavy box! Dear god, what the hell is in this thing?!"

"Do you ever stop complaining?" Shiro snapped, stomping into the house. He blinked dumbly before grinning as he entered the dining room. "Why hello there, Tomato-chan, Potato-chan! And look. It's Baka Kakashi. Yo! Welcome to the house of idiots!"

Obito twitched. "Potato-chan" was Shiro Zetsu's new nickname for Minato, while "Tomato-chan" was Kushina's. He internally sighed, feeling a cool breeze brush through his hair for many long lasting moments. _Probably in shock or something_ , he mused internally.

"Uh…" Kakashi's voice was the first to break the silence. "…Wh-who're you?"

"Names Shiro Zetsu," he introduced. "Tomato-chan, this is Guruguru. Guruguru, meet Tomato-chan! You know of her, right?"

"Wow, I've never seen a jinchūriki up close before!" the idiot said in awe. "Hey, Obito, you never told me how pretty she was!"

The Uchiha didn't show any physical acknowledgement of the moron talking to him. "Hn."

He heard Kushina gasp. "Where is he dattebane?!"

Guruguru snickered. "On the porch." " _Have fun_ " was left hanging in the air, though it could still be heard.

Feet slammed against the wooden floors, making Obito stand up with his arm wrapped around Naruto's stomach and turn around. He only saw flaming red before he felt his being get slammed into by Kushina. He blinked in surprise, briefly hesitating because the last time he was got hugged was when Kuro Zetsu came up from behind and nearly stabbed him in the gut during a long training session. But he returned the hug anyway.

And for the first time in many years, he felt truly warm and happy on the inside.

* * *

 **"Ijigen Jutsu": "Different Dimension Technique"; "Art of a Different Dimension"**

 **"** **Shinjitsu no Taki": "Waterfalls of Truth" or "Waterfall of Truth"**

 **"Obito-ichijikai": "Initial Obito"**

 **"Obito-nijiteki": "Secondary Obito"**

 **Aw, so sweet ;-; TT^TT**

 **Preview:**

Slowly, but surely, he was dozing off, when practically out of the blue, Obito shot up, screaming "Fuck off!" with a crazed look; he was drenched in sweat, and he was panting from the panic of his dream.

Kakashi winced in surprise, leaning on his elbow to elevate himself and look up at the Uchiha. Obito hadn't noticed, and if he did, he showed no acknowledgement. He just wheezed and rubbed his only available eye, lying back down.

Soon after that, everything was quiet; all that could be heard was the tweeting of the early birds as the winter sun finally decided to rise over the horizon at eight in the morning.

 **Peace! :3**


	5. Days of the Dead

**TammyHyrbid21: Yeah, I'm the type of person who wants an explanation for everything majestic (and if I can't get it, I just make a few inferences of my own). And yes, it is a break from all the hurt. This is more neutral, but next chapter will have more feels. TT^TT thanks for your review :3**

 **I changed the preview last chapter to fit this chapter, by the way.**

 **Bah. New warning: Alcohol abuse (just for this chapter) and character death (CD will be explained in the preview).**

 **Original word count: 4k~**

 **Recommended songs: Animus Vox by The Glitch Mob or Warrior Concerto also by The Glitch Mob.**

 **Enjoy my FABOOSHKA! chapter :|**

* * *

 _Chapter 5: Days of the Dead_

* * *

Obito couldn't tell how long Kushina had been squeezing him to death, but he knew it had been more than a few seconds. After a little while, Naruto half whined, half cooed, and caught everyone's attention. Kushina let go, tears streaming down her face.

She sniffed, smiling happily and genuinely—but at the same time, she felt sad. She didn't understand why. She was happy through and through, but she still felt…sad. For him. For Naruto. Hell, she felt sad for even the two white, mutated creatures who were suddenly sitting on the railing silently bickering about something seemingly random. She didn't even know their names.

She glanced at the seven week old child, grinning at him. He grinned back, kicking in excitement. She grabbed him, holding him close to her chest with a smile. "He's so adorable…that grin…undeniably Minato's grin, 'ttebane." She turned her head, gesturing for Minato to come over. "Get yer ass over here, sissy."

He blinked, but followed eagerly. They started chatting, shortly thereafter heading out to the small clearing and sitting together with Naruto.

Kakashi sat on the porch steps, Obito sitting down next to him. The Uchiha was staring at him, making the Hatake twitch irritably every now and then. He wanted to blurt—to tell his best friend about the whole time travel thing. But he wasn't sure how to approach it. So he started rather awkwardly, "Uh, do you believe in time travel? Or dimension travel? As in, a parallel dimension, maybe?"

Obito blinked, giving him an incredulous look before he started laughing loudly and whole-heartedly, something foreign to his throat and to Guruguru and Shiro. All eyes landed on him as he continued to laugh hysterically, bunching up and holding his stomach in laughter. Minato and Kushina looked like they just saw a walking corpse, while Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu were plain shocked.

Kakashi was just dumbfounded. Never had he heard Obito laugh—not since his chūnin days when Team Minato wasn't so deformed. He gave the still-laughing-hysterically a look of disbelief, deciding to speak up. "What's so funny?" _I literally said three sentences, and he's laughing like an overly-amused baby…_

Obito laughed for a few more seconds longer, before finally settling down and wiping away the tears of laughter. He looked overly amused, giggling every now and then. "Nothing, nothing…" he giggled again, sighing and calming down. "Those are the exact same words Sakura-chan used to approach the explanation of your guys' little situation." He grinned, exactly how he used to grin when he was younger.

Kakashi stiffened. "She…told you? Treated you, too?"

He nodded, leaning back on his palms and staring up at the trees. "I probably would be dead if it wasn't for her," he mumbled. "Plus, she taught me a thing or two about how to raise a child properly. And she told me what happened. All of it. She's still working at the hospital, went there just last week for Naruto's one months old checkup."

The Hatake sighed. "Well, I guess that's an inevitable action." He watched as Kushina handed Naruto over to Minato, who found himself to be dumbfounded holding the seven week old child. He smiled, albeit it was small. "…I'm sorry—"

"Hn," Obito cut him off quickly. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

"You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my stupidity."

The Uchiha chuckled bitterly, glancing down at the grass as he remembered a time when Madara had lectured him for his "stupidity": _"If it wasn't for that brat, then you wouldn't be here. And while I really don't like him, I am in debt to him. He has given me my gift, which is you—my pawn, my knight, my slave, my plan executor."_ A bitter smile grew on his face. "You've gone through pain—but it's worth it, is it not? By the looks you've been giving sensei and Kushina-chan, I take it that they died on that night, no?"

"…Yeah," he murmured, "they did die."

"…But think about it," Obito continued. "He'd be carrying three legacies instead of two. Neat, right?"

Kakashi's tense and bitter expression became soft. The Uchiha held many points there, but still, he went through too much already. Mental, emotional and internal physical pain was not something that happened before, and him dying in the Hatake's arms was the furthest from his success criteria, even if he wasn't aware of the "masked mans" identity. It made him feel grim, when he thought back to the time when Obito rested on his lap, dying, coughing up blood and becoming as pale as Shiro Zetsu.

He openly cringed at that.

"You should go visit her," he stated. "She knows what's going on. Do you want me to take you, or not?"

The Hatake glanced at his Uchiha friend. "No. I'll be able to find her on my own. Where's Sasuke? And Naruto?"

"I don't know where Sasuke is," Obito replied, "but Sakura will tell you where Naruto is, though it'll be…harsh…and difficult to understand at first."

"Why won't you come along?" Kakashi questioned.

"I absolutely hate being in crowded places," he stated bluntly. "I would feel claustrophobic. Not to mention, I still have aphensphosmphobia. Even if it's mild, I still can't stand…well, you know…being touched by random people."

"Maa, understandable, I guess. It explains why you chose an isolated place." The silver haired shinobi stood up, turning his head towards Minato and Kushina. "I'm heading out to town," he announced. "When are we leaving?"

"Never!"

"Mid-day."

The Hatake nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll be back by then." He turned to his right, and left in a bout of remarkable speed.

Obito smiled, grunting his signature Uchiha grunt before turning his head back to the two parents and child he had somewhat accidentally ripped away from them.

* * *

"Sakura-senpai."

The pink haired medic stopped organizing files, turning her head to the clerk whose head was poking into the back break room. She blinked. "Yes, Saki-chan?"

The brunette glanced at the front desk uneasily for a second, her voice lowered as she glanced back. "Someone's here for you."

"Who is it?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

Sakura slowly nodded. "Alright. I'll be out there in a minute."

"Senpai, your break is right now," Saki pointed out. Her smooth expression became uneasy. "He looks…tense. You should talk to him."

The Haruno nodded again, slipping the file into its place and walking past Saki. She smiled upon seeing her sensei. "Long time no see."

He nodded his greeting, gesturing for her to come with him. "Good to see you, too."

Sakura waved her goodbye to Saki, and walked out of Yama Byōin's entrance with Kakashi closely following. As they walked down the street, Sakura spoke up to break the silence. "So, why are you here? I didn't expect you until later next month."

"Minato-sensei and Kushina dragged me along," he stated. "I…didn't intend on seeing Obito until much, much later…"

"Remorse?"

Kakashi didn't reply. He simply shrugged. "Anyways, he said that you would explain why we haven't ran into Naruto yet."

Sakura openly grimaced, wincing. "Well, it's sort of a long story. He's…actually gone, believe it or not…"

* * *

 _Seven years later…_

* * *

It was midnight. It was dark, cold, and unsurprisingly, it started to snow. Obito knew that there would be at least five feet of snow by the end of tomorrow, seven being the most. He wasn't entirely surprise though. He was used to it by now, living on an elevated climate. He grew accustomed to it, but he missed the warm days of Konoha. If he was right, he wasn't very far from Kumogakure, a place of which gets snow nearly all year round because of the clouds and high climate.

He was sitting on the railing of the porch, staring at the clearing that was coated in white. He couldn't sleep, he continued tossing and turning, and continuously thinking of Kuro Zetsu killing…someone…dear to him. Or trying to, at least. He hadn't exactly anticipated the feeling, but he knew he would've felt paranoia sooner or later. He just never thought it'd be…that bad.

Obito sighed, shifting and jumping down onto the snow. He wore his old clean cloak. He customized it to add a high collar, and had extended the sleeves one or two inches to hide the chains and cuffs that were still the center or his misery. He wore boots that resembled zori, and had shinobi pants that were tucked under his boots.

He had no uchiwa gunbai. He had passed it down to Naruto. Same went for his uchiganta, but he kept his dual-wielding tachi, the uchiganta's ancestor. He slipped on his one-eyed white mask. It had rings across the entire thing, mimicking the design of the Sharingan. It also covered his hair, the black band covering the rest of his hair line.

It was his façade—Keigo being his alias. He had made a quiet alliance with Uchiha Shisui, Hoshigaki Kisame, Momochi Zabuza and Akasuna no Sasori with the promise of protection and answers, all of them—excluding Zabuza—for within Akatsuki. The four missing-nuke-nin truly did have a lot of questions; _lots_ of them. Recently, most of them surrounded around Kuro Zetsu, who had replaced Kakuzu's dead partner barely a year ago. He had answered all of their questions, and in turn, they responded to his bidding and gathered intel about the magical, frolicking-worthy world within Akatsuki, or other things.

But there was one question he absolutely refused to answer: _"Who are you really?"_

He couldn't let them know his stand as the former captive and abused subordinate of Kuro Zetsu and Uchiha Madara. And while he knew that not answering the question would break their deal, he settled for a rather difficult riddle: _"I am the man who died, and yet did not die. He who is shattered hides behind a face of scars is who I am."_

He told them that riddle five years ago. They all knew it, memorized it, and failed to solve it. He was on his way to do another rendezvous with them by Kusagakure, on the opposite side of where all Hell seemed to start for him.

Obito sighed bitterly, and disappeared into his dimension upon activating his Sharingan. Kusa wasn't too far from him; quite a few miles to be covered by foot, but via Kamui was like walking up a tree for him: Way too easy. He landed a few seconds later, standing at the edge of a forest next to a ravine he was all too familiar with. He quickly turned to his left, heading further down the frost-covered grass and not caring that he left tracks behind. It was only midnight; the frost, albeit slightly thinner than the rest of his surroundings, would return within the hour.

He continued walking through the knee-high grass until he reached Yakushi Bridge—sister bridge to Kannabi Bridge. It was considerably smaller, only about thirty or so meters across. The wood was left untouched; graffiti designs were here and there, and the wood was tattered from age. But at the same time, it still looked new, despite being fifty years old. He made it to the bridge, and sat on the railing while waiting patiently with his arms crossed.

He couldn't help but ponder…he wondered what the affect of his actions would be, specifically on Naruto and Kushina. The Akatsuki were after the bijū, and Naruto was prime way to draw the Kyūbi's jinchūriki out—Kushina was an emotional person, and wouldn't be able to think straight is Naruto were to be used as a scape goat.

"Keigo-san, you're awfully early."

The voice of Uchiha Shisui made "Keigo" turn his head. The fifteen year old Uchiha nodded his greeting, Obito nodding back without word. Shisui was the person who was widely known as Shunshin no Shisui—and as the Uchiha's downfall. He had massacred his very own clan, leaving only his young eight year old cousin—Uchiha Itachi—to live and to kill him.

He had met Sasuke a few times, but Sakura had told him the story: _Itachi_ was Sasuke's older _brother_ , and the former had slaughtered the Uchiha Clan thanks to the coup d'état when Sasuke was eight.

 _Probably switched because little Uchiha Sasuke no longer exists_ , Obito thought.

"You're usually not the first to come around," Shisui stated. He smirked. "Something up?"

"Keigo" chuckled, shaking his head. "Nah. Three feet of snow was already on the ground when I left," he explained in a mumble. "I didn't want to travel in chin length snow, so I booked it earlier than expected."

The Uchiha nodded, his eyes trailing up to the dark cloudy sky. "Let's hope the others hurry. It feels like it's gonna rain, or somewhere along those lines."

"Hn," Obito grunted. His eye turned towards the other end of the bridge, where Kisame and Sasori were making their way from the other side of the ravine, Zabuza closely following.

Once they reached Shisui and "Keigo", they started. Obito nodded his greeting to the others. "Anything new?"

"Hm. Nothing on my end," Zabuza grunted. "But there has been some…movement. More of the weaker missing-nin and mercenary samurai are flocking and being recruited by some rich moron called Gatō. And the rebellion in Kiri is now official: Yagura has lost it."

"No shit," Kisame snarled. "I became a missing-nin along with you because of that short little shit."

"Well," Obito murmured, "since you're speaking up, Kisame, is there anything you would like to say? Other than a question?"

"…Well you just got rid of nearly everything I wanted to say," the S-ranked shark demon grumbled. "But I've noticed that Konoha and Suna are becoming more…familiar…with one another. Rumor has it that they're gonna spark an alliance between one another."

Obito simply nodded. _That's good_ , he thought. He glanced at Sasori. "And you?"

"Pain has been thinking about dividing us all up," Sasori reported bluntly. "A frontline division and an information division."

 _…Why_ now _of all times…?_ Obito wondered. _Is something happening?_ He slowly nodded, and then turned toward Shisui.

The criminal Uchiha started without needing to be told, "Nothing much is happening on my part. It's silent, but it's getting tense. The calm before the storm, I suppose."

"Keigo" slowly nodded for the fourth time. Shisui was supposed to keep an eye on anything foreign to the organization—money deals, information stealing, mission requests from small villages, and so forth. "The calm before the storm" was another term for "watch your back, something bad will happen sooner or later". The masked shinobi narrowed his eye. "…Nothing else, I presume?" When silence met his assumption, he continued, "Now, what questions do you have this time? I do not have very much time tonight, so no more than a one or two questions."

"Are you an Uchiha?" Shisui questioned without hesitation, his coal eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"…And what makes you ask that? You killed all of the Uchiha, leaving little Itachi as the sole survivor in Konoha," Obito pointed out.

"I have my suspicions," Shisui countered. "So? Are you an Uchiha? Yes or no?"

"…I have relation with your clan," the masked twenty-two year old mumbled reluctantly. "But it's thin, and practically non-existent."

Reality was, that had truth. Obito had literally cut all connections from the Uchiha, getting rid of his surname and just going by "Obito", mainly because he didn't want trouble to be attracted towards him. He dealt with enough bullshit just hiding from Kuro Zetsu and training Naruto, and having people breathing down his neck wasn't going to help.

"…Is that all?" he questioned.

Everybody nodded.

"Good," Obito stated. "I will be on my way then." He nodded his farewell to the four, turning and walking away into the crowded trail. He, then, disappeared into Kamui.

* * *

 _Two months and three weeks later—the twenty-first of December—three AM in Konoha…_

* * *

Twenty-two year old Hatake Kakashi woke up to a loud crash and a rather loud curse coming from the outside of his cramped apartment. He quickly shot up, his fingers wrapped around the handle of a kunai within seconds of hearing the crash.

A few short moments later, Obito's head poked through the door, a rare cheeky grin on his face. "Sorry…" he stated as he stepped completely through the door, his Kamui deactivating. His cheeks were red, and he was…off-balanced. "Yer," he hiccuped, "…traps are ridiculous…y'knoooo…?" He hiccuped a second time as he slurred over his words, giggling almost pervertedly as he stared at Kakashi. "There're four of ya…how busy was Sakumo…"

Kakashi blinked dumbly, slipping the kunai back into his nightstand. "Are…you drunk, Obito…?"

The Uchiha stared at him, before speaking rather loudly. "I am not _drunk_!" he protested. "It was just a _teensy_ bit. Barely even a sip!"

Once again, Kakashi blinked. He was dumbfounded; he had never met a drunkard Obito, and he never knew that he could become so much like a delirious young-Obito. "…You're undeniably drunk. Why are you drinking?"

He pouted. "I tell ya, I ain't _druuunk_! It was just a _weeettle_ bit!" He pinched his fingers together to emphasize his point. "Not even this much! See, Baka Kakashi? I am not _drunk_."

"Now you're just in denial."

"Psshaw! I ain't in no deniable!" Obito objected illiterately and loudly, plopping face first on the bed by Kakashi's leg. He lifted his head, grinning up at Kakashi a second later. He hiccuped once or twice before finally speaking clumsily. "Do ya know what day it is~…?"

"It's the twenty-first," the Hatake stated. "Why?"

"'The hell?" Obito snapped, leaning on his palms and arching his back backwards like he was doing some pseudo yoga stance to stare at Kakashi. "Ya ain't gonna tell me ya don't ranem—renemen—renenm…" he huffed in annoyance as he stumbled over his words like a five year old, making Kakashi smile in amusement, " _remember_ what this day means?! _Huh_?!" He pointed an accusing finger at the Hatake, slurring over his words again, "You bya-starrrd!"

Kakashi continued starring. He honestly wasn't sure how to react to…anything, in general. It wasn't easy to make Hatake Kakashi no Sharingan feel so dumbfounded. But then again, he thought, Obito always does the impossible… _somehow_ …

Obito flopped back down onto the bed, groaning loudly into the sheets like a boy-troubled teenaged girl. He lifted his face from the sheets again, staring at Kakashi once more. "December twenty-first…kind of a personal hellish holiday for me. I absolutely _loathe_ this day! Hate it with a passion."

"How come?" Kakashi questioned, though he had a feeling that it the loathe Obito was feeling was turned towards Rin's death. It was her ninth year to be dead—killed by his own hand. He hadn't let that fact go, but Obito had become a routine; a distraction from the pain of killing her.

The Uchiha sighed, though it sounded more like a loud huff thanks to it being harsh and ephemeral. "The worst day _ever_. Can't guess? Baka Kakashi!"

"Uh…Rin's…death…?" he cautiously guessed.

Obito rolled his eye. "No! Ya idee-ot!"

Kakashi blinked in surprise, shock making him freeze. "Uh…what?"

"Today's the day Hell started," Obito grumbled, staring down at the sheets. "And when Rin died…"

The jōnin paused for a few seconds. He glanced at the Uchiha, who looked like he was eating a sour piece of candy: His face was scrunched up, and he looked displeased. He thought it through. Rin died today nine years ago…Obito witnessed it…Obito returned to Madara…and then…

Kakashi winced. "Oh," he murmured, catching the drunk Uchiha's attention. "Today is the day you gained those seals on your wrists, right?"

"You took an _eternity_ to figure that out!" Obito whined, rolling over onto Kakashi's leg with a loud and long sound of complaint. "So much for being a _genius_ , you _moron_ …"

 _So that's why you're so wasted_ , Kakashi thought. _It's because of the pained memory of when Hell started for you._

"Baka Kakashi!" Obito suddenly exclaimed.

He sighed. "What is it?"

"I feel weird."

"Oh god, don't tell me you're gonna throw up…"

"Pfft, no way! I only throw up in the morning, when I wake up!" He laughed loudly. "Been doing this for almost ten years now! Haha!" He grinned innocently.

But Kakashi, on the other hand, sighed heavily. Underaged drinking wasn't unheard of when it came to shinobi. Especially the young ones who were dragged through war. He heard of stories derived from the times of the second war. A six year old shinobi—barely a chūnin—snuck alcohol from her civilian parents after her team died, and she herself died from said alcohol not too soon after. And while it was a rumor, all rumors have _some_ truth to it, no matter what. "That's not funny, you know."

"Bah, like you haven't done anything of the sorts," Obito shot back.

"It only happened _once_ ," Kakashi mumbled. "And then Minato-sensei found out on the exact same night. He ended up slapping me."

Obito busted out into loud laughter. But he abruptly stopped a few seconds later, rolling onto his stomach again with his playful serious face on. He giggled for seemingly no reason, but it was interrupted when he rolled over Kakashi's leg _again_ , landing in between the Hatake's legs on his stomach with a shit-eating mischievous grin in stead of resting his back on Kakashi's shin.

Quickly, the silver haired jōnin sat up completely, glaring with red tinted cheeks. "'The _fuck_ are you doing?!"

Obito laughed boisterously, holding his stomach in laughter. "Priceless! _Ha_!" He rolled over, howling with laughter until he fell off of the bed, faceplanting onto the carpet floor. But despite his groan of pain, he giggled. Kakashi simply sighed, stepping out of bed and kneeling beside the Uchiha. He leaned over the giggling man, sighing again at his childish behavior. "How about this," he offered, "I let you spend the night here, and you can sleep off your hangover."

"Do I get the bed?" Obito asked the carpet.

Kakashi mentally debated over it. He found no problem with it, but he wouldn't be saying that if he himself didn't have a comprised alternative for a place to sleep at for the night. He sighed loudly, and reluctantly, "Fine…but I get a blanket and pillow of _my_ choice. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Obito mock saluted from his spot on the ground, still grinning and giggling.

Once the sleeping arrangements were sorted out, Kakashi found himself staring up at the ceiling, lying on his back and listening to the silent breathing of Obito. It was calming, and he found himself just…listening. He wasn't falling asleep, he wasn't pondering, he wasn't even thinking about the tragic event that had happened later today nine years ago, nothing. He snorted bitterly, rolling onto his side and closing his eye. It was likely forty thirty AM, thirty or so minutes prior to when he always woke up. He internally sighed. _It's—_

His thought was roughly interrupted when suddenly heard Obito mumbling something nearly inaudible, albeit he heard "I'm tired" and a few curse words. But other than that, it was gibberish to him. He turned his head towards the bed, staring with his half-lidded eye. He was exhausted. First, a drunk Obito barges into his house, makes a ruckus, and then all of a sudden, he starts talking in his sleep about stuff only the gods would know about. To add to that, the idiot took Kakashi's bed. He silently huffed, turning his head back onto its side. _That shit_ never _happens._

Slowly, but surely, he was dozing off, when practically out of the blue, Obito shot up, screaming "Fuck off!" with a crazed look; he was drenched in sweat, and he was panting from the panic of his dream.

Kakashi winced in surprise, leaning on his elbow to elevate himself and look up at the Uchiha. Obito hadn't noticed, and if he did, he showed no acknowledgement. He just wheezed and rubbed his only available eye, lying back down.

Soon after that, everything was quiet; all that could be heard was the tweeting of the early birds as the winter sun finally decided to rise over the horizon at eight in the morning.

* * *

 **"Yama Byōshin": "Mountain Hospital"**

 **"Keigo": "Talk to me"**

 **Part I of II. This chapter was originally gonna be 7-8k, but then I got lazy and cut it in half. I have about a quarter of the chapter done. Not a whole lot, but enough to solidify the entire thing.**

 **After chapter 6, all perspective will be from Obito; so it'll truly be pure Obito-centric for the almost the entire rest of the duration of my craptastic story.**

 **Preview:**

" _Shiki Fūjin_ …"

And then there was nothing but the eternal screaming of the dead.

 **Peace! :3**


	6. Up In Smoke

**TammyHybrid21: Yeah, you could say that about Kushina. Woman's intuition? I dunno. I just needed to put words down because reasons. And actually, Kakashi arrived at the end of the battle, when Naruto was kidnapped. ("…and leaving a silver-haired jōnin to wonder what the hell just happened…"). And yes, it was Kushina who said "Never!" lol.**

 **And, yeah, you could say that. I mean, if you look at it deeply, young-Kakashi has self-resentment, which is undeniably self-hate. So there's that. No, Zabuza is not in the Akatsuki. And Haku is somewhere. Just not currently with Zabuza. Drunk Obito is, indeed, sad and funny. And my original plan was going for Obito to kiss Kakashi and whatnot, blah blah blah, but then I had a feeling that it would become rather…amatory. Lol, I ship them too. It's too cute for me. :D Thanks for your review :3**

 **Recommended songs: Out of my Mind by Holly Drummond (Cross Them Out remix), and I'm Coming Home, Part 2 by Skylar Grey.**

 **Original word count: Exactly 4.7k~, the longest chapter I've ever written since How To Cheat Death. Which was way back in February.**

 **Enjoy my lachrymose chapter :,p**

* * *

 _Chapter 6: Up In Smoke_

* * *

Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto was ever so slightly scared. He didn't admit it out loud, his Uchiha-like pride he picked up from his Uchiha guardian would never let him admit to that. The AC was on, and the house was warm. But Naruto couldn't find the warmth of one of the three main chakras he grew up around.

Wherever Obito was, he was doing a damn good job of keeping his location concealed.

And Naruto absolutely hated it.

The seven year old stepped into the kitchen that was merged with the dining room, eyeing Zetsu—who was surprisingly at the stove cooking up some ramen. The blonde blinked in surprise. "I didn't know you cooked."

Shiro turned his head, his one eyed gaze landing on the blonde. His grin widened. "'Morning. And no, I don't cook. Obito just left me instructions on _how_ to cook some breakfast for ya while he's out and about," he explained. "Won't be back until dinner, I believe. Maybe a little earlier, but no later than that."

Naruto simply nodded, sitting at the dining room table. "Will tou-chan and kaa-chan be visiting again today?"

Zetsu paused. "…I don't know."

Naruto only nodded again, resting his cheek on his arms. He knew who his real parents were, provided he majorly questioned everyone around him, mainly Obito. But the latter had explained the entire situation to him—but obvious details were left out. They were sensitive, his Uchiha guardian had that type of look when he explained. Naruto wasn't really all that dumb, even if he had his brash idiotic outbursts. He was also emotional, but he knew when to control them, so he never questioned it.

Apparently, he was a chūnin-level shinobi, according to Uchiha Sasuke, and on the road to jōnin. Sasuke and Sakura had a daughter of their own—Uchiha Haruno Sarada. She was a year or two younger than him, so he was her "secret" role model. He didn't really mind it, though—he enjoyed the rivalry he held with her and Sasuke to some consent. Not to mention, he taught her a few techniques, provided they were not very dangerous.

He was fond of the three. He knew a lot about them—their abilities, their power, their past, and so forth. He even knew their biggest secret—which was dimension _and_ time travel. And while he found that to be totally _awesome_ , he felt like something bigger was not being told. But he knew that secrets were not told for many reasons, and that they could never be kept for eternity. They would tell him, when they deemed him ready. They just didn't deem "right now" as the best time.

A bowl of ramen appearing in front of his face made him brighten up instantly; he thanked Shiro for the food, and quickly ate through the first three bowls, stopping by the seventh and final bowl. He ended up having to put away the dishes, as snow busted throw Shiro and Guruguru's window in their bed room.

So now he had to go into town and get a new glass pane. "Lazy bums…" he grumbled. "Can't do anything for themselves. Why can't you guys just put plastic around that damnable frame?! Or better yet, cover it up with Mokuton!" He growled in annoyance when he simply got a curse as an answer, shaking his gloved hand in a rude gesture towards the two through the walls.

He put the seventh and final bowl away, grabbing his long sleeved sweatshirt and put it on, making sure that the sleeve covered up his white left arm, his hand covered by a glove. The reason why it was completely white and comparable to the snow was because he had gotten attacked by a mountain lion after wandering away from the house on his own two years ago. His arm was mauled, and had to be cut off completely, because it was irreparable, and was to be replaced by the substance Shiro Zetsu was made of.

But on the bright side, he had the Wood Release. And he knew how to control it. He had shouted "fuck yeah" when he learned about that, and gained probably the worst punishment ever: Sleeping outside for a full two weeks.

Scary place at night. He hated the dark. And the howls. And the raccoons that would eat him at night.

He shuddered, grabbing his dagger and clipping it on around his waste. He slipped on his custom shinobi boots with the tennis racket wrapped around his shoe, and slipped on a scarf that Kushina had made for his third birthday. It had the Uzumaki Clan symbol on it. His love for it knew no end. He sometimes wore it to bed because he found it to be rather comfortable.

He slipped another glove onto his right hand, and cautiously opened the door, stepping over the gate that kept the snow from flooding in and "ruining the floor", as Obito put it whence he explained his reasoning.

 _And that reminds me_ , the Uzumaki pondered as he dragged his feet through the six foot snow—nothing compared to the usual amount dumped onto their heads. _Where_ is _Obito-nii at? He's usually never gone for this long…_

He sighed out loud, making his way down the hill clumsily. Today was going to be a long day. He didn't doubt it.

Within a few minutes, Naruto found the path that lead back down towards the village. He made his way down there, brushing off snow that fluttered down from trees and just so happened to land on him. He heard plops of snow that slipped from the pine tree branches, some even falling on the path or right next to him. He didn't mind, really; he knew how to handle himself.

"Naruto! There you are. I was just heading up to see you."

The blonde seven year old blinked, finally noticing Haruno Sakura as she, too, was walking up the hill's path with tennis rackets tied down to her winter boots. He grinned. "Hi, Sakura-chan. I was just heading down to town to get some new glass. Guruguru and Zetsu-baka refuse to give up on that window. Why're you coming up?"

Her expression faltered for a brief second before she sighed. "Today is harsh for Obito. His friend died on this day about nine or so years ago, so I thought I would just visit him and see how he's doing."

Naruto sighed, shrugging as he pulled his scarf up to his slowly freezing up nose. "He's not home right now," he said. "He usually never is until lunch or dinner time. He always comes home complaining about a hangover." He scrunched his nose in annoyance.

"Oh. He does?" Sakura seemed surprise by that fact.

"Well, yeah. I mean, he always is depressed the day before," the Uzumaki stated. "But it's not really my business. It's his own way of mourning."

The Haruno slowly nodded. "Alright…well, if that's the case, then I'll come back later. Do you need help?"

"No, I need a unicorn," Naruto dead panned sarcastically.

Sakura chuckled. "Alright, alright. We should hurry, though, s'pposed to snow again a little bit later, and all of the shops are gonna close if that's the case." Naruto nodded, and the two made their way down the mountain.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto returned with Sasuke, carrying a window pane that suited the window sill. Naruto sighed in relief, pulling off his boots. He walked through the living room and dining room—which were practically one—and poked his head down the hall towards Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu's shared room. "Morons! Get out here, we've got yer stupid pane!"

Guruguru's head poked out of the room. He waved, his childish voice ticking Naruto off. "Hi~!"

 _Sometimes I wonder if he's just wishing to be get pummeled…_ Naruto thought irritably. He glared. "Yes. Hi. Help. _Now_."

"Ooo~, looks like someone _else_ woke on the wrong side of the bed~!" Guruguru teased in a sing-song manner.

Naruto's glare intensified before he crossed his arms and pouted. "Whatever. Just hurry up, 'ttebayo…" He turned and walked away into the living room, plopping on the couch.

Sasuke chuckled, leaning over the couch from behind and smirking with an overly amused expression. "Can't stand them, can ya?"

"No," Naruto grumbled, his face scrunched up. "They're super annoying."

"Love ya too, bud!" Shiro Zetsu called from the hall. Already, the two were dragging the glass pane down the hall.

"Hn, whatever," the blonde mumbled. He crossed his arms, his pout intensifying and making Sasuke chuckle again.

The Uchiha always found amusement in the ways young different-dimension Uzumaki Naruto pouted or sulked. Some ways were creative, too. He pranked people when he sulked, only Obito knew that. Sasuke found it to be pretty interesting, nothing much really changed for him. He just…found himself to be nostalgic sometimes when he saw the young Uzumaki.

"I'm going to go pick Sarada up from daycare," Sakura announced. "I'll be back in a little bit. Don't stir up too much trouble."

"Hn."

"'Kay. Bye, Sakura-chan."

The Haruno smiled, and walked out of the door and stepped over the the gate, leaving the two alone in the living room. Guruguru and Zetsu were bickering in background, but it was easily disregarded by the two.

Naruto blinked, turning his head towards the hallway simultaneously with Sasuke just in time to see Obito appear from his Kamui dimension with a scowl. Almost instantly, the Uchiha's face scrunched up, and he turned his head towards the hall from where he stood by the hall entrance that connected the living room and dining room to the other section of the house. "Shaddup, you idiots!"

Instantly, the bickering stopped, albeit Guruguru snickered quietly.

Obito sighed heavily, walking up to the couch and plopping down on it next to Naruto. "Stupid headache…" he grumbled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably.

"Well it's good to see you, too, nii-chan," Naruto muttered.

"Hm? Oh, yeah…hi," Obito mumbled back. "I'm sorry. I'm just really tired today."

"I hadn't noticed," the Uzumaki dead panned. He sighed, crossing his arms. "Can I go out for a bit? I wanna work on my jutsu's."

"I don't mind," his guardian stated. "But," he jabbed a finger at Sasuke, "Rīsentosutaira-ōgimi has to go with you."

Said ducktail emperor snorted irritably, but brushed it off; he and Naruto took their leave within the minute. It left Obito to sit where he was, rubbing his forehead and temples as if it would get rid of the irritatingly large headache known as a hangover. And despite him having a bad hangover, his senses were still sharp. Sharp enough to know that someone was within the shadows, and he knew exactly who that someone was. He scoffed, his Mangekyō activating as his gaze pinned the shadow down in the northeastern corner by the hall entrance. He glared vehemently, killing intent pointed directly at them. "I know you're there, Uchiha."

A strained sigh later, and out came Uchiha Shisui. He stared, his eyes scanning the living and dining room. "I'm surprise the other two didn't notice me. 'Rīsenrosutaira-ōgimi' had to of at least notice that he was being watched."

"Hn," was Obito's response. "How did you find this place, _Shisui_?"

The criminal Uchiha blinked, tensing under the dark glare of the older Uchiha. He sighed heavily after debating for a few moments, shifting uncomfortably. "I…followed you. Took me nearly three months, but I managed to find you again. You're Keigo, correct?"

"…I am," Obito replied reluctantly. His eye narrowed. He was glad that his hand was draped over nearly all of his face. "What do you want?"

"Just a warning," Shisui stated, the fear in his eyes finally showing, "but…Kuro Zetsu found us out. Sasori is dead, but Kisame and I have successfully escaped. Now he's searching for _you_. 'Keigo'. So I highly recommend you keep an eye out."

"…And how do I know you're not lying?" Obito challenged. "You could've been blackmailed for all I know."

"No, no," Shisui stated. He frowned evidently. "It's just…well, I know that Mangekyō pattern from _somewhere_ …and your name carries with memories of my early childhood. Are you not Uchiha Obito?"

Within the blink of an eye, the discovered and scarred Uchiha had Shisui's neck pinned to the wall, a kunai pointed at his chin with the other hand. He faced the latter with a death glare. "How the hell do you know? Barely anybody knows of my identity, because according to the world, Uchiha Obito died exactly nine years and two months ago on the twenty-first of September. So _how the hell do you know_?!"

Shisui swallowed thickly, fear crowding his mind; it was a wonder as to why he wasn't dead yet.

" _Spill it_!" Obito shouted.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered, internally surprising himself. "I-I just remember the name from my childhood—a-and the pattern I just _know_!"

The twenty-two year old Uchiha paused, narrowing his eye thoughtfully. He looked into the eyes of Shisui, hoping—wanting—for his words to be a lie. But after many long moments, he found no lies, no deception, no _nothing_. He growled irritably, slipping the kunai back into his pouch and letting go of Shisui. The latter sighed in relief, coughing a few times and rubbing his neck. But he barely recovered when seemingly all of a sudden, Obito grabbed his collar and dragged—literally dragged—him down the hall towards a bedroom. He was tossed into the room, the door clicking shut and making the place dark.

Obito passed Shisui mindlessly, not caring about the scared and curious gaze that was following him as he walked up to the side of the bed, smearing small fūinjutsu kanji that was easily a foot long up and down in his own blood. A few moments later, a door opened, and Obito dragged Shisui in to the large and dark cave. The floors were smooth, and the ceiling was rocky—stalagmite was here and there, and there was a small pond towards the back.

"Where are we?" Shisui questioned. Obito tossed the fifteen year old onto the ground again, the latter slowly standing up and brushing himself off. "And what the hell are you doing?"

"Come here," Obito said, gesturing with his hand. " _Now_."

The sharpness of his voice did not let Shisui hesitate due to doubt or fear. But he still slowly made his way towards his superior Uchiha relative, stopping when he was only a foot away from him.

Obiti raised his arm, pulling his long cloak sleeve up to reveal what could only be known as a cuff. There were repeating patterns of seals, seals that Shisui knew were fatal because of the Kyōka Fūin that joined the repeat. He just didn't recognize them.

Though the one with the kanji for "chained down" looked vaguely familiar. He just didn't know from where he had seen it to make it familiar for him.

"Do you see this?" Obito snapped, gesturing to the familiar-looking seal that was on his wrist. Once Shisui looked closer, he noticed that the carvings were glowing…with chakra. "This is Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku, a seal that seals chakra away and disperses it into the outside world. Notice how it's glowing? That means it's very slowly taking away _all_ of my chakra. Do you _know_ what that means?"

"N-no…" Shisui murmured.

"It _means_ Kuro Zetsu already knows where I am," he hissed with a rage-filled sneer. "And basically, it means that I'm dying. Slowly. Call it a form of jacked up disease, if you will."

The young Uchiha's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "So he's indirectly killing you?"

Obito slowly nodded, hiding the cuff with his sleeve. "Yes," he croaked with a broken expression. "Sensei's gonna blame himself so much…and so will Jiraiya-jiji. They're the creator of the seals."

"How come you won't break it? Do you have a death wish?"

The Uchiha shook his head, looking offended. "Of _course_ not!" He sighed. "The seals have a defense mechanism in them; their affects backlash on whoever tries to break them, or break into my mind to indirectly break them."

Shisui just stood there. "…Oh…" he murmured. "That's…a dilemma…"

Obito slowly nodded, his mouth opening to speak again, but it was roughly interrupted as a Shiro Zetsu clone emerged from the ground. He glanced at Obito. "My original just went to check up on Naruto and Sasuke," he announced. He swallowed. "Naruto disappeared, and Sasuke has a real bad gut wound!"

Obito's eye widened, turning to face the Zetsu clone with an enraged expression. "Get me my gunbai, war mask, cloak and tachi. _Now_!"

"On it!" Zetsu replied as he sunk back into the ground.

Obito turned his head to Shisui. "You—go find Sakura, take her to Sasuke. _ASAP_."

The young Uchiha blinked."But—"

"No buts," Obito snarled. "You will help, or else you'll be taking the high road."

Shisui stiffened, nodding and rushing towards the door that lead back into the house. The twenty-two year old sighed impatiently, rolling up his sleeves and pulling the chains out from underneath his skin-tight long sleeved shirt. Barely a second later, the Zetsu clone appeared with the requested items—the uchiwa gunbai, the white war mask, the high collar cloak and tachi. Obito quickly pulled off his current cloak, slipping on the high collar cloak and slipping the white war mask on. He, then, grabbed the gunbai, and hooked it to the ends of the chains, the tachi in his hands moments later. He glanced down at the clone. "Where is your original and Guruguru?"

"On Naruto's kidnappers tail," Zetsu reported quickly. "It's likely to be Kuro Zetsu, or someone from the Akatsuki, considering they were wearing the cloak itself."

"Good." Obito narrowed his eye. "Go to Minato-sensei. Call for backup, and hurry. Do _not_ slack. Am I clear?"

The white skinned clone nodded firmly, sinking back into the ground to do as he was told.

Obito didn't hesitate to run out of the cabin, sharpening his senses as he lightly ran on top of the seven foot snow, a fierce and blood-thirsty expression on his face.

He managed to catch up to Shiro Zetsu and Guruguru remarkably fast, considering his current speed. No words were shared, as they weren't necessary. Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu already knew their orders: Kill the kidnapper, bring Naruto back unharmed.

But the Uchiha had plans of his own, and he had full intention of accomplishing them alone.

"You will act as backup," Obito ordered. "Fall back—wait for my signal. Am I clear?"

The two brother clones hesitated, but they nodded and did what they were told. The Uchiha unsheathed his tachi, his Kamui activating. He focused his chakra, and then aimed for the mans left arm—his free arm.

The dimension technique only managed to rip off a few fingers. But it was enough to make the man stop. The assumed hooded Akatsuki member stopped jumping from tree-to-tree, landing on the packed snow with the little unconscious seven year old Uzumaki under his right arm.

The man glared. He stood in his spot, despite Obito charging at him with the tachi. He made a move to slash the man from beneath his chin, and the man saw that; he did the logical thing, and backed away. But he had moved too soon.

Obito quickly grabbed Naruto roughly by the collar, yanking the child out of the mans grip and turning intangible to avoid the paper bomb that was attempted to be stuck onto his body. It blew up behind him, and threw snow everywhere. But neither of them paid mind to it—they just backed away from each other, Obito gesturing for Guruguru to come and take Naruto. It happened quickly—in a blur, Naruto was gone.

The Uchiwa glared at the hooded man, noticing the red that fell from his stumps that were once fingers. _So it's not Kuro Zetsu_ , Obito ruled out. He visibly relaxed. _Good. Makes everything easier. But if it's not Kuro Zetsu, then who is he?_

" _Raiton: Jibashi_!" The man's right unharmed fist smashed onto the snow, lightning traveling through the frozen liquid flakes. Obito didn't bother to move: He just activated Kamui's intangibility again, and the technique went straight through him, the lightning continuing to strike through the snow. It abruptly stopped when it hit a tree.

But the Uchiha was considerably surprised; the person's voice sounded vaguely familiar, and his chakra signature…it was extremely familiar. But he just couldn't put his finger on it. He scoffed, setting the fact aside. He would figure out who the person was later on.

He had plans to rip the man limb from limb.

Obito's hands twisted into the horse hand seal, sucking in a sharp breath of cool—but burnt—air. " _Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu_!" The wide ranged fire-based technique melted the surrounding snow, catching the trees on fire as the flames licked at the world surrounding it.

" _Suiton: Suijinheki_!" An equally large span of water hit the Katon jutsu, steam billowing everywhere and negating the surrounding forest fire quickly. The water was obviously circling around the hooded user, but it dropped within seconds upon impact. Obito's eye narrowed. _He's hiding._

His Kamui scanned the steam covered battlefield, ignoring the ankle-high slush that was once snow. He simply shivered, but didn't bother with it otherwise. He focused on his senses, stretching them far to hear, smell or sense for his opponent. It stayed silent for a full minute, before nearly all of a sudden, the man jumped out of the steam towards Obito's left, a kunai in his hand. The Uchiha lifted his tachi, and blocked.

The two weapons clashed, but the hooded man quickly backed away the moment he lifted his palm to reveal a paper bomb. Chakra pulsed barely even a second later, and it exploded right in their faces, throwing both of them back—the man to a place only god would know where, and Obito into a tree. Obito just took more of the damage due to not reacting in time.

Before the Uchiha could even get up, there were the sounds of a thousand chirps right above him, obviously aimed for his heart. The Uchiha's eyes widened in shock, instantly recognizing the technique as Raikiri because of the sharp chakra blade underneath the crackling lightning chakra emitting from it. He quickly ducked, the lightning piercing the tree behind him instead.

He didn't hesitated to punch the man in the gut, followed by a pulse of his own chakra. The force of the wave was enough to throw the mystery attacker back, the hooded suspect skidding across the slush and mud. Obito sniffed, rushing forward and slicing his tachi to cut open the hood to reveal the mans identity, slicing the man's face from his right jaw over his left eye.

He would've stared in shock, if it wasn't for the fact that a familiar pitch black arm found its way straight straight through his chest. He choked, his eye widening from the pain and shock. He wheezed for air, his eye turning towards the one and only Kuro Zetsu. He glared, despite his panting and the near-unbearable pain that numbed his body. " _You_ …"

" **Mph** ," Zetsu simply grunted. He chuckled darkly and evilly, lifting his free hand to lift his index and middle finger. " **And now that you are incapacitated by me** — ** _again_** — **what shall you do**?"

Obito sneered, turning intangible and pulling away from Zetsu. He wheezed for air continuously, blood rising in his throat and spilling out of the corners of his mouth. He ignored it, though. Slowly, he raised his arms, ignoring the protests and the pain that zapped him with every movement he made. He was not quick; his movements were slow, but he started performing certain hand seals regardless: Snake, boar, ram, rabbit, dog, rat, bird, horse, and finally, snake, before he clapped his hands together to finalize the sequence of hand seals.

Kuro Zetsu, if he could show any emotion on his whack job of a face, would most likely gape like he was seeing gods. He quickly pulsed his chakra, activating all three seals. Obito's only response was a shout of pain, and a wet cough, before he proceeded with the jutsu. Zetsu snarled, feeling his internal self being grabbed—and then he saw it.

The Shinigami.

He growled, pulsing more chakra and making the seals more intense. " **You _dare_ to try and seal me**? **_Laughable_**."

Obito simply gagged on his own blood. "Sh-Shiro…" he rasped, failing to breath properly. "C-clone… _now_ …"

Without hesitation, a Shiro Zetsu clone appeared out of the ground, standing next to Obito on an alter that appeared along with the jutsu. The Uchiha slowly nodded his approval, his Sharingan deactivating as he felt his chakra depleting alarmingly quickly.

He didn't hesitate to execute the jutsu, though. His mind was made up.

" _Shiki Fūjin_ …"

He watched as the arms of the Shinigami dragged Kuro Zetsu's soul out of his body, the hand shoving it into the Shiro Zetsu clone. The seal appeared on his gut, the clone grimacing as he felt himself be connected with Kuro Zetsu.

That was when his physical and psychological pain turned into a certain hurt Obito never thought he would feel. His nerves were being overloaded, flashes of traumatizing moments were crossing his vision, and he was practically dead due to over-the-top severe chakra exhaustion. Barely a second later, however, his soul was cut through by the devil behind him.

And that was when he heard the eternal screams of the dead.

He was dead.

* * *

When Kakashi woke up, he expected to be in his bed, sleeping the hours away thanks to his sensei giving him a day off. He didn't expect for him to wake up to see a masked Obito falling backwards down into him.

The Hatake's eyes widened. He quickly scrambled up, ignoring the reason as to why his right hand was covered in splinters, why he was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, why he was missing fingers on his left hand, why he had a large cut going from his jaw over his left Sharingan eye, why he was covered in mud and water, and why the slush was stained crimson. He just caught the falling Uchiha, falling to his knees with the masked man's head resting on his lap. He pulled the mask off, and froze in his spot. He saw the wound in his chest, and instantly, started crying.

Obito was covered in his own blood, pale as the snow, and had dark, bruised circles under his eyes. His left arm was burnt, the cuff scorched. His chest wasn't moving. His eye was staring up at nothing. He had a fatal wound.

"O-Obito…" he whispered, brushing a bloody strand of hair off of the Uchiha's forehead. His voice cracked with exhaustion and pain—both physical and emotional. "Wake up…"

His response was a heavy silence. The only sound was the silent sniffles of Kakashi, and water dripping from the trees and into the slush below.

"C'mon…" Kakashi pleaded, tears flowing even heavier. "Don't…don't die on me…don't pull this shit again…"

His only response was, once again, a silence that was heavy and very unbearable. He winced when he heard a tree fall, but ignored it. He just stood in the dreaded nothingness for a bit longer, before he finally just let all of his frustration, anger, hurt and sadness go in one long and loud pained scream that hurt his throat.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a far away place, Namikaze Minato's tea cup cracked and ended up shattering, spilling all of the tea he was drinking onto the dining room table of the peaceful Hokage Mansion within the calm, happy and carefree Konohagakure no Sato.

* * *

 **"Rīsentosutaira-ōgimi": "Emperor Ducktail"; "King Ducktail"; "Prince Ducktail"; "Ducktail Emperor"; "Ducktail King"; "Ducktail Prince"**

 **"Raiton: Jibashi": "Lightning Style: Electro Magnetic Murder"; "Lightning Release: Electro Magnetic Murder"**

 **"Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu": "Fire Style: Majestic Flame Destroyer"; "Fire Release: Majestic Flame Destroyer"**

 **"Suiton: Suijinheki": "Water Style: Water Formation Wall"; "Water Release: Water Formation Wall"**

 **"Shiki Fūjin": "Dead Demon Consuming Seal"**

 **Excluding "-ōgimi", all translations/jutsu names were from memory. I find that to be pretty neat, saved me a lot of time.**

 **So emotional TT^TT. I re-read this, like, three times…almost sobbed, man. So friggin sad D':…**

 **I don't know what's with me and people being impaled in either the gut or chest by a fist. I guess it's just the fatality rate that appeals to me, which (once I think about it) feels messed up. Because, c'mon, barely anybody can survive a destroyed and collapsed lung. Or a crushed heart. Or not being able to breathe properly.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **…F** **uck, man, I'm cruel.**

 **Preview:**

"You'll be living with us from now on," Minato said. "That's the original plan Obito made."

Naruto sighed, visibly deflating. "What, so now I have to live with two open perverts, a closet pervert who just so happens to be the great, almighty Yondaime _and_ my biological father and an over-emotional mother who can literally kick anybody's head off and is extremely comparable to Tsunade and Sakura in so many goddamned ways that it's not even funny?"

Minato sighed, resisting the need to hit his head against his Hokage desk. _Un_ denia _bly raised by Obito…_

 **Peace! :3**


	7. This Is Normal

**Omake: Fourth of July**

 **Summary:** There were so many bottles of liquor littered along the grass, so many bright lights of fireworks. A goofy grin made its way to Obito's face, and for the first time in a long time—despite having the worst hangover _ever_ —he was genuinely glad for a holiday.

 **So, yeah. Happy Fourth of July to any USA citizens who are reading. I just thought I'd import this into the story. Warnings: Drunkard Obito (again), buzzed!Kakashi, and slight KakaObi.**

 **I got bored, wrote this up. Thought it would be nice. This event isn't included in the storyline; it's completely separate. This was mainly just to satisfy my stupid muse.**

 **Plus I haven't done an Omake since December of 2014.**

 **Original word count: 1.7k~**

 **Recommended song: Anthem by Emancipator.**

 **Enjoy my ephemeral omake :p**

* * *

 _Omake: This Is Normal_

* * *

A dramatic gasp made Obito cringe. He sighed. "Yes. It's a firework," he grumbled towards five year old Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. The boy reached his remaining arm out to grab it, but was interrupted. "No, don't touch it."

The boy pouted. "But why not?"

Obito rolled his eyes. "Because we're in the house and the last time I gave you something flammable, Shiro complained about the smell."

Naruto pouted. "He deserved that smoke bomb."

"No excuses," Obito chided. "And no flammable indoor pranks. Not yet, you can start doing that later tonight."

"What!" Naruto cried, slapping his hand on the floor. He waved a finger at his Uchiha guardian. "Why not _now_?! It'll be so much fun!"

"Nope." The Uchiha shook his head. He smirked. "Remember what I said? I'd help you if you listen."

"Right," Naruto grumbled. He sighed, pushing the box of fireworks away. He pouted, giving Obito his puppy dog eyes. "Please? Please, please, _please_? Can I at least scare kaa-chan with firecrackers? _Please_ , dattebayo?!"

Obito's brow ticked. He sighed; it was long, and it made him sound like he was suffering. "My goodness, you're too persistent for your own good…"

"That's not an answer!" Naruto exclaimed, waving his arm around. "Can I?!"

"Only if you find the animals Guruguru lost," Obito stated, his brow ticking. "Don't forget that they make a mess. If I find any—"

"Right, I know! Clean it before an ass whoppin' comes!" Naruto squeaked. He shot up, and ran off to start searching for the animals Guruguru "accidentally" lost.

A few seconds later, Minato's chakra signature flared as he teleported outside the door. Kakashi, Kushina and Jiraiya were with him as well, a knock on the door following. Obito grumbled something under his breath before he spoke, "Is there really any need to knock? It's open, you know."

The door hinges were slammed open, Jiraiya jumping in and laughing boisterously. "Haha, why hello there! The great Jiraiya of the Sannin has arrived!"

Zetsu's head poked out from the hallway. He glared, silently plotting something before he spoke. "You _all_ have terrible timing."

Kushina giggled, walking in. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized. "But it's a few hours before the local firework show. I'm excited, dattebane!"

"Mhm," Minato agreed flatly. He glanced at Obito. "Where's Naruto at now?"

"Hunting."

"Hunting? Inside the house?" he questioned with a raised eye brow.

"You'd be surprised by the amount of animals Guruguru _accidentally_ loses inside the house," Obito stated stoically and bluntly. He sighed, standing up. "And besides, it's a good game for Naruto, keeps him on his toes."

Minato looked amused, opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when he heard Naruto shout, "Ah- _ha_! I found a birds nest! And there's a _bird_ in it! Wow! Can we keep it, Obito-nii?!" A squeak and a squawk along with something crashing later, Naruto came out of the hallway with an amokura, the white beauty's wings tied down—curtesy of Naruto.

"We live nowhere _near_ the sea…" Obito muttered irritably, a tick forming on his forehead. "Why the hell is an amokura here? _Guruguru_!"

"Busy!" Guruguru called back. His chakra signature quickly blended in, making him disappear, and making Obito even more annoyed.

"So? Can we keep it?" Naruto asked, holding the bird in his right hand.

"I would say yes if we lived by the sea, which we _don't_ ," Obito replied. "So let it go. You still have yet to find those frogs."

"Right. Here." He shoved the amokura into Jiraiya's arms, running off to go find said frogs.

The Uchiha turned his head, his one-eyed gaze following the miniature blonde. "And don't forgot the toads—"

"I won't!"

"—and then there's a cockatoo somewhere in the house!" Obito said, raising his voice to reach the five year old. "Don't kill any of them!"

"'Kay!" Naruto called from Zetsu's room.

Kakashi joined Obito's side, mirth in his eye. He grabbed his the collar of his friends shirt, dragging him away with an eye smile. "Away to the liquor store!"

Obito glared at the Hatake as he was being dragged out the door. "Wha—"

"Alright," Minato said, purposely interrupting his former student. He smiled, half evil, half amused—a smile Obito was all too familiar with. He waved, grinning. "Have fun~!"

* * *

Later that night, Kakashi and Obito ended up on a cliff of the mountain, gaining a large overview of a Yamamoto no Sato, the village that Naruto and Obito would visit now and then. It was also the village Sasuke and Sakura were raising Sarada, and where most of Naruto's friends were at. Some were travelers who didn't like human contact and just so happened to sleep nearby, some were people who lived out in Yamamoto no Sato Hatake. It was a peaceful place, but of course, Naruto ruins it with his pranks every once in a while.

And, every once in a while, Obito—being a lightweight and all. Kakashi was only buzzed after five bottles. He wasn't planning on his sixth, though. Obito was on his seventh; the bottles littered the grass surrounding the log, Obito sitting against it and doubling over in a random belly laugh. Kakashi sat where he was awkwardly, his brow twitching in annoyance.

The Hatake didn't know what appeared to be so funny to the Uchiha—he had suddenly started laughing hysterically, on the verge of his nose touching the dirt. Already, his nose was buried in the grass as he laughed. "'The hell is so funny?" Kakashi asked.

Obito took a moment to stop laughing, sighing and getting rid his tears of laughter. But he had a goofy grin on his face—one that was foreign to be seen and felt. He finally took a last breath before he spoke, "I feel weird."

"…You're not gonna throw up, are you? At this rate, I honestly think you have alcohol poison. Does Sakura need to pump your stomach?" Kakashi teased lightly.

He hiccuped, though it sounded more like he was burping and sucking in air at the same time. "Wha—" he was interrupted by another hiccup, "—what makes ya' thi' 'at?"

"Now you're slurring over your words," the Hatake mumbled.

Obito hiccuped again, giggling and swaying slightly. "Wha~t yer talking about."

Kakashi sighed. "I dunno what'cha just said but Imma take it as—" he burped, interrupting himself mid sentence. He blinked dumbly before speaking again, "…'Xcuse me."

Obito laughed again, this time rolling over and holding his stomach again. "Ha! Y-you—" another hiccup, "—ya sounded so _stupid_!"

"Shaddup," Kakashi shot back. "I sound perfectly _awesome_!"

"That's _my_ line!"

"Pfft, _no_ …"

" _Yes_! That's _my_ line!"

"I dunno what'cha talken 'bout." Kakashi gave the drunk Uchiha an eye smile. He lost all of his air when, seemingly all of a sudden, Obito hopped on him, his arms wrapping around his neck. Kakashi fell onto his back, irritated, blushing and alarmed all at once. "Ge—"

"No," Obito interrupted childishly, giggling and rubbing his cheek again Kakashi's own masked cheek. He giggled again. "I still feel weird."

"That's nice. Just don't throw up on me…" Kakashi grumbled. "And get—"

"No way!" Obito laughed, resting his cheek on Kakashi's chest and going silent.

The Hatake's ears were burning, heated enough to feel like he was next to a fire. "S-seriously…get off…"

Obito simply grumbled something, rubbing his face into Kakashi's vest even further and staying there. The Hatake sighed in defeat, letting his head rest on the ground.

Neither of them moved until they heard the loud booming of fireworks, colors flashing everywhere. Kakashi turned his head towards the view—trails of smoke were left behind, many colors reflecting off of the remnants of fireworks. He visibly relaxed at the sight; it was…soothing. The colors were wild, and they were mesmerizing. But he twitched when he felt Obito's head shift, eye turning towards the show. Kakashi sighed. "Are you ever going to get off?"

A small, near-unnoticeable twitch at his lips was the jōnin's only physical response. Obito re-buried his face into Kakashi's vest, his voice muffled as he spoke, "Nope."

Kakashi sighed again. "This isn't normal…"

His only response was a muffled chuckle, and the loud bang of a firework.

"Incidentally", they stayed there silently, shifting only to get change positions slightly every now and then. Obito had fallen asleep—or was trying to—and Kakashi was stuck underneath him. So he just settled with his fingers gently playing with dark locks. Soon enough, the yellow moon exposed itself, stars littering the sky thanks to the world around them quieting down and shutting off the lights, provided some thin sheets of smoke still blocked some places of the stars.

Sunlight started shining, and soon enough, the sun rose over the horizon behind the mountain, rising the birds and animals around them. The grass was dampened, and Kakashi was cold—but not shivering, thanks to…cuddling, which embarrassed him. A lot. Hurt his pride as a cold-hearted killer. He was tired, but he wasn't exhausted. He was content right where he was, and it scared him, because the last time he was happy like he was was when Sakumo fulfilled his promise to return from the vital mission alive.

A small, sad smile worked its way up to his lips, but he promptly ignored it.

Besides, his peace and quiet was ruefully interrupted when he heard a familiar voice shout as loud as the vocals could allow.

" _FIRE_. _IN_. _THE_. _HOLE_ ~!"

He smiled brightly, breaking out into silent laughter as he heard Naruto's loud shout of triumph, followed by Kushina and Minato's voices. Loud bangs and cracks were heard underneath the cliff as fireworks of all sorts were let off, waking up the entire town in the process. Laughters of success rang, echoing and following the booms and loud screams of fireworks.

"Yeah, 'ttebayo!" Naruto shouted. "This is the best. Holiday. _Ever_!"

Obito didn't seem to agree. Slowly, he froze, growling and grumbling dark and various curses under his breath. Kakashi blinked dumbly, watching as the Uchiha stood up, walked over to the edge, leaned over, and hurled up yesterday's drinks.

Kushina and Naruto screamed. " _Ew_!"

Once he was finished, Obito grinned evilly down at the two. Kushina was latched onto an edge, chakra gluing her down with Naruto latched onto her back with his one remaining arm wrapped around her neck. Minato was standing a few feet away from his wife, looking grim and staring up at the grinning Uchiha. Said Uchiha's grin widened as he waved. "Happy Fourth~!"

Naruto pouted. "You ruined it dattebayo!"

Obito simply laughed, turning and walking away and making Kakashi sigh as he, too, sat up.

 _…I can't believe this is "normal" around here…_

* * *

 **"Yamamoto no Sato": "The village at the base of the mountain"**

 **"Yamamoto no Sato Hatake": "The village at the base of the mountain field"**

 **Yes, I'm working on the next chapter. It should come out around July 10th, which'll be followed by a new chapter of TSoPG. Probably. But it's likely.**

 **Peace! :3**


	8. The Ones Who Are Bound

**TammyHybrid21 (C6): Did I make him seem a bit like a brat? That was complete unintentional. And yes, Sasuke did notice, because if he didn't then he wouldn't be Sasuke. And yeah, I'm cruel, aren't I? Teehee. Obito "died" when Rin and Kakashi were 13, so I just chose a later date for Obito's "death" with Rin following two or so months later.**

 **Yeah, Kuro is cruel, isn't he? :,p You'll get more angst!Kakashi, but I believe that will be the end of it. And WHO-LY SHIT I didn't think of it that way; but then again, making the characters seem strong is eligible. I just choose a random wound and then incorporate it. The aftermath I choose. And that is 100% true. We authors are mean. Haha, thanks for your review :3**

 **This chapters name is actually the original name of the one-shot-turned-story. I changed it, because this was ultimately centered around Obito and Obito alone, and it wouldn't have made sense to talk about more than one person when I'm centering the story around that certain individual.**

 **Odd hour update; I usually update around 1-2:30 AM, but I uploaded this at 10:30 AM. Woo.**

 **I also set up a deviantart account. I have yet to post anything for this story. Pen name: Toudan-no-Hyoushi.**

 **Original word count: 3.7k~**

 **Recommended songs: Sell Your Soul & The Loss by Hollywood Undead.**

 **Enjoy my caliginous chapter :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 7: The Ones Who Are Bound_

* * *

Kakashi wasn't entirely sure how long he sat there with his face buried into Obito's bloody crown. He was still in shock; he never actually expected his best friend to die. He wanted the man to prosper, to live to the fullest of his life expectancy, and to have him dwell in their millions of happy moments as he died of old age.

He wanted that to happen—and yet, he stood there, injured and crying over the death of, yet again, another comrade.

Kakashi winced, realizing just how much of a failure he had become: _He_ killed Rin, _he_ couldn't save Minato and Kushina in the first place, and _he_ couldn't reach out to Obito; _Naruto_ had been the one to do that. Not him. Now Obito was truly dead—and as far as he was concerned, he had done absolutely _nothing_ to prevent the Uchiwa's death.

His grip tightened around to dead Uchiha's head, hiding behind black hair as tears stung both his face wound and pride as a friend. He felt like the world had just ended, that it was his fault that it happened the way it did.

 _Probably was…_ Kakashi thought bitterly as he grimaced, _…because I was the one who put him d—_

"Sensei!"

The Hatake's thought was, thankfully, cut off; he didn't need to turn his head to know that it was Sakura. She landed in the ankle-deep slush, breathless. Her eyes landed on the scene, and she sucked in a deep breath of air, freezing in shock.

She put her hand over her mouth, tears overflowing as quickly as they came. Never had she seen so much damage done to one human being. Just from _one glance_ — _one quarter of a seconds glance_ —she saw the many symptoms of mental, physical and emotional trauma, stress and— _obviously_ —fatal wounds. The bruises under his eyes—which she soon discovered that they were _bags of exhaustion_ a moment later—screamed extreme chakra exhaustion.

Fatal, fatal, fatal.

That's all she saw when she stared at the dead Uchiha Obito in horror and sadness.

"…We…we need to get you patched up," Sakura stated quietly.

Kakashi made no physical acknowledgement. He just sat there, barely moving. One would've thought that he was dead at first glance. Only the movement of his chest betrayed that initial thought. Sakura opened her mouth to speak again, but Kakashi spoke. "…I'll be there in a bit…" he murmured. "Just give me some time."

The kunoichi paused, but simply nodded. "Don't take too long," she stated reluctantly. "I don't want you to come back with infected wounds." Without another word, she left, Shiro Zetsu and Guruguru following with an unconscious Naruto under their wings. The Zetsu clone that once stood on the alter groaned, but followed via sinking into the ground.

It left the Hatake alone in the silence, gentle but stinging winds blowing through the clearing and shimmering the slush.

The cloaked jōnin did not move for thirteen hours.

* * *

"I'm…worried," Minato stated. He frowned, glancing out to early morning sun that had just returned from its long hours of keeping the other half of the world awake from the window. "Do you think they'll be alright?"

Guruguru did not reply right away. Nobody had the heart to tell the Yondaime that another student of his had died. They knew he would take the blow pretty hard; but it wasn't only Minato that was holding them back from telling, it was also Naruto. The boy grew up around Obito—knew the man as his guardian angel, older brother and, in some odd aspect, uncle. True, Minato and Kushina also played factors in raising him, filling in the holes Obito couldn't seem to fill up no matter how hard he tried, but ultimately it was the Uchiha that had given him the most, albeit Naruto's true parents were appreciated on an equal level.

The mutated human sighed heavily, "…Beats me." _If we can't tell you, Minato-kohai, then why don't you go see for yourself…?_ "They've taken their time…go ahead and teleport to them now."

The Namikaze gave him an odd look. "Why now? Why not earlier?"

"Because…" Guruguru replied with no amusement, which gained another odd look from the blonde, "…reasons. Now hurry up."

Minato simply sighed, charging up chakra and teleporting away barely even a half a quarter of a second later. He easily landed, his feet—up to his ankles—landing in something wet. He cringed, shivering. He looked down—

 _Red_.

His blue eyes widened. Slush was coated in red, the crimson liquid slowly traveling throughout the cold snowy water. His eyes followed the trail of blood all the way up to a corpse, a familiar silver haired jōnin caressing the corpse's head that rested on his lap, tears streaming down his face. Splinters littered Hatake Kakashi's right hand, fingers missing from his left, and he had a slash across his face.

Uchiha Obito was no better. He was as pale as the snow, and he was covered in his own blood. There was a hole in his chest— _inches_ away from his heart. The bruises underneath his eyes were the most noticeable. They were a deep blue, almost black, and it showed up like a black spot on a white surface. Minato cringed, his heart sinking down to his stomach and dropping to his feet from there. Vaguely—just _vaguely_ —he saw Rin; she lays there, pale, blood flowing down from her lips to her chin, a gaping hole in her chest—

His breath hitched. Internally, he was crying. Outwardly, he was on the verge of hyperventilating from panic, grief and loss.

"K-Kaka…" he stuttered, his voice dying easily. He sighed shakily, breathing in and breathing out before repeating a minute later, "Kakashi."

The Hatake openly flinched, sniffing. And while he did not reply right away, there was no need to give instant response. His sensei's voice was soft, and sympathetic, filled with grief; just like how he asked what happened when Rin had died.

"…Shiki Fūjin…" he murmured. "Obito used it…he sealed Kuro Zetsu away…" He wasn't sure if that actually happened—Shiro Zetsu voluntarily explained what had happened.

Minato stopped thinking, as his trail of thoughts was wandering over hurt. His eyes widened. "He did _what_?"

Kakashi simply nodded limply, his head being tucked further in.

"That…that jutsu…" Minato muttered. "It's kinjutsu. It's not even in Fūin no Sho."

That caught Kakashi's attention. Slowly, he glanced up at Minato, his eyes red and puffy, bags of exhaustion and lines of stress making him look years older than necessary. His torn mask was damp and bloodied, and he was pale; not to mention, shivers were racketing his body. "Well…he…was trained by Madara for two years…" he pointed out slowly.

"No, no…" The Namikaze sighed heavily. He slowly shook his head. "No…that jutsu was created barely a few decades ago by Mito-sama's sister. Madara went into hiding before that."

"…Well…" Kakashi murmured, glancing down at the pale and dead Uchiha. He sniffed again, another wave of tears falling. He just didn't understand; he didn't cry as hard as he currently was when Rin died, so why was he so emotional now of all deaths? He swallowed. "…I…"

"…We need to get you back," Minato whispered. He frowned, remembering about how Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu didn't tell him right away—a full _thirteen hours,_ he was left in the dark of a death that was only _thirty fractions_ of a second away from him. "You need to get healed up…and Obito…"

The Hatake sniffed. "Yeah." He made no movement to get up instantly; he sighed, long, heavy and stressed. He put Obito's head down, both breathing shinobi wincing at how lifeless he was—they were used to him being lively, if only relaxing and sleeping on the couch.

Minato smiled sadly, bitterly. He picked Obito up bridal style, turning his head towards his only remaining student. "Walk or teleport?"

"Walk," Kakashi murmured. "You can go ahead. The house isn't too far from here."

The Namikaze sighed, turning and using Hiraishin to teleport away. He landed on the porch, right where Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu were waiting. They were alarmingly silent and calm, the air around them tight with sadness.

Guruguru sighed, "So, who's going to tell Naruto?"

Minato visibly slumped, looking like he was in his forties instead of thirties. "I will," he stated.

Shiro Zetsu stiffened. "What?"

Guruguru turned to him. "Did you seriously slip up?"

"Y-yes…Naruto woke up while you were getting the body bag for Uchiha-chan and I might of kind of told him," Shiro explained. "Sakura is watching over him right now, though…so…don't worry…?"

Once again, Minato slumped with depression, sighing heavily. " _Morons_ ," he grumbled. "And speaking of morons, how did Obito know of Shiki Fūjin? It's so forbidden, the knowledge of its existence is practically zero. Did Madara teach him that?"

"Madara was too self-preserved. And besides, his branches of information wasn't the greatest. Plus he was never a fūinjutsu master, despite him living up to eighty or so years," Shiro Zetsu explained. "Kuro Zetsu does not use any jutsu as such. And we are absolutely clueless as to what the hell a Fūin kanji alone can do, so…"

"Basically, no," Guruguru simplified. "Either Obito slipped past you, and gained information, or he knew of of beforehand."

Minato shook his head. "Even _I_ didn't know of it until just a year ago."

"Well then it's a mystery," the mutated swirly masked creature stated. "We'll look into this later. Right now, we need to handle Obito and grief."

A bitter smile stretched across Minato's lips. "Yeah," he croaked, "okay."

* * *

 _One week later…_

* * *

The funeral was small, and peaceful. Obito was cremated, his ashes sealed away into a scroll. The scroll was, then, buried underneath an oak tree he and Naruto once hung out at. It was a nostalgic sight for the boy, and everybody could see that. Each person had silently prayed, bowing respectfully with Naruto starting and Guruguru ending.

It was small, and slightly bitter, but the feeling of small hope that Obito had found peace in the afterlife was in Kakashi's mind and chest. It was not a strange feeling for him; he had hoped it for it to be the same for the rest of the entire group of Team Minato, Jiraiya and Kushina included, when they had died in his time.

 _And now that Obito is dead…_ he thought absently, _how will things change?_

Minato left, saying something about Hokage work. Jiraiya soon followed, heading off to town. Sakura had to leave about thirty minutes after the Sannin left because of Sarada, and Sasuke to go and…do Sasuke things. Kakashi honestly had no clue what the Uchiha did nowadays, and frankly, he didn't really want to know.

Then Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu left with Naruto, leaving only Kushina and Kakashi at the grave.

The Uzumaki was the first to speak, albeit her voice was quiet, "…Was his death…painful…for him…?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't know. It might've been."

Kushina sighed, putting her palms over her eyes and started rubbing them. "That _moron_ …" she whispered. "If I could revive him _completely_ , I would, and then beat him senseless…he'd probably die again, but then I'd just revive him, _again_ , and then hug him to death."

The Hatake managed to smile, even if it was a sour one. But it disappeared, replaced with a thoughtful look. He sighed thoughtfully, his mind wheels spinning. "…There could be a way to revive him. Permanently," he suggested.

Kushina's head whipped towards him, her eyes red, puffy and wide. "… _No_ ," she snapped, catching on fairly quick. "Nu-huh. Not happening, Kakashi. The dead must remain dead, no matter what. If I catch you even _remotely_ plotting to revive Obito, I'll pummel you senseless and then do it all over again when you're healed. Do I make myself clear?"

Kakashi nodded stiffly, though he knew he didn't need to "plot" to find a way.

Nagato surely has the Rin'negan by now, and that event of him having it can't be changed.

Even the gods couldn't stop it from happening, and Kakashi will get his way.

* * *

"So," Minato started awkwardly, "you'll be living with me and your mother now. That's the plan we sorted out."

Naruto flipped himself over, sitting up from lying on his stomach on the living room floor and reading a book to occupy himself. It had been about five days after the funeral—everything seemed pretty normal, but Naruto was just the opposite. He was quieter now, and he hadn't pranked since Obito's death. He mainly just read, slept, ate, trained or hung out with Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu.

He scoffed. "So, what, now I have to live with a cyclops pervert, a closet pervert who just so happens to be the great almighty Yondaime, a red head whose fist can knock a skull off of your neck with ease and an overly perverted Sannin who takes his porn way too seriously along with two idiots?"

Minato rolled his eyes, but smiled anyways. "Well, at least nothing will be boring. I assure you that much. And Jiraiya barely drops by, only once every three months. Sometimes six. And Kakashi just stays with us because he usually has nothing better to do."

"You didn't object to be a closet pervert, though, _tou-chan_ ," Naruto grumbled.

The Yondaime snickered. "Don't tell your mother."

"Don't tell me what?" Kushina asked as she walked in from the hallway with Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu in head locks underneath both of her arms.

"What your anniversary gift is," Minato stated simply and coolly. But he still looked nervous, but also had a thankful look thanks to him not facing her, as he was sitting on the couch—the furniture faced the wall.

"Well, anyways, these two idiots are going to destroy this place," Kushina stated. "Plus I like them, and I think they should come along. And they're always around Naruto. Plus they can train him with his Wood Release. But I don't know where to put them. Should we just tuck them into a closet and call it good?"

Naruto put his book down, giving it a doggy ear before climbing onto the couch next to his father. "They don't sleep, and they usually just use their room for storage for weapons and scrolls and other boring stuff. But they can just sink into the walls."

"Can they see through the walls? 'Cause I don't want them creeping on us when we're doing private stuff," Kushina said.

"They've only done that once," Naruto muttered. "Sakura-chan tracked them down and beat them senseless."

"Tobi is a good boy," Guruguru commented.

"Tobi is an _idiot_ ," Shiro shot back. "That is the last time I do anything perverted that you suggest. Haruno-chan is a terrible option, and so is Kushina-chan."

"Tobi is still a good boy."

"Shut up."

"Oh, my heart. It _hurts_."

"How about both of you shut it," Kushina snapped, tightening her headlock and making the two mutated creatures squeak. She smiled sweetly. "Much better. Naruto-chan, please go and pack up your stuff. I need to talk to your father about something important."

Said blonde Uzumaki frowned, but nodded anyway and wordlessly walked away. Once they heard the door click close, Kushina released Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu. She walked up to the couch, and sat next to Minato with a rare serious face. "Kakashi is getting ideas," she said.

Minato frowned. "What kind? Is it the amatory kind? Do we need to get him The Talk About Condoms? He's twenty-two for goodness's sake—"

Kushina giggled, interrupted her husband. "No, no. Not sexually." He serious face returned, "He…may try to revive Obito."

The Namikaze paused, frowning. This was new. " _Why_?"

"Well, it's sort of my fault," Kushina muttered. "I said that Obito was a moron, and that if I could revive him, I would and beat him senseless. And then Kakashi said that there 'might be a way to revive Obito'."

Minato's frown deepened. He turned his head towards Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu. "You two know more about history than anything. Is there a way to revive people completely?"

They were both silent, sharing wordless, expressionless and unreadable glances before Shiro Zetsu spoke up, "…Only one dōjutsu can accomplish it." _"Kakashi knows what and where it is"_ went unspoken, only Guruguru "hearing" it. "But only one person has it, and even then, it is not his own eyes. Plus, Kakashi has no idea what and where it's at."

 _A complete lie._

"He won't try anything," Guruguru assured. _Another lie._ "And if he gets too close, we'll take care of it."

Kushina slowly nodded. "Okay," she murmured, but she didn't sound very convinced. "But I'm worried. He's breaking underneath all the pressure of losing people. And he blames himself for both Rin and Obito's deaths."

"Forget Obito, beat _him_ senseless," Shiro Zetsu stated dryly. "Jackass, indeed."

"Uh-huh." Guruguru nodded.

"Who's a jackass?" Everybody turned their heads towards the hall. Naruto stood there, a medium sized scroll hanging at the base of his back with thin—but sturdy—ropes tied around the edges that wrapped around his shoulders. Much like the Shodai, Minato noticed.

Kushina smiled. "A donkey. Now, do we have everything we need?"

"Yup, 'ttebayo."

"I just need this scroll. And I'm all good."

"Tobi is a good boy."

"Shut up."

"Jerk."

"Moron."

"Idiot."

"Jackass."

"Asshole."

"Bitch."

"Cunt."

"Fucker."

"Shit-eating whore."

"Fuck up."

"Oh, Tobi's heart hurts. Please heal Tobi." Guruguru mockingly put his hand over the left side of his chest, mock stumbling and pretending to collapse.

Zetsu looked overly annoyed at that point.

"Okay. Watch your mouths, you two," Kushina snapped, cracking her knuckles. She grinned evilly. "It'll give me an excuse to beat you shitless."

"Hypocrite," Naruto grumbled.

"Did you say something, dattebane?"

"No. Dunno what you're talking about," he replied quickly.

Minato rolled his eyes, getting off the couch. He put his hands on Kushina and Naruto's shoulder, Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu being out under another headlock. Then, they teleported away to Konoha, leaving behind memories and what Naruto called "home".

* * *

The blood in the slush was all he needed.

He had asked Konan for a durable mask in turn for money for the ever so slightly crippled Akatsuki. What he gained was well worth it—design and all. It was a pitch black mask that not only covered ones entire face—underneath the jaw included—but it also covered the top of ones head. And while the mask covering underneath the jaw would restrain speaking, there was enough room to move ones jaw easily.

It saved trouble, and it fits one of the corpses he sought.

He pulled out the mask, studying its design. There was a singular ring on the front, three tomoe on said ring, two acting as eyeholes. In the middle of the circle was the coiling design of a snake, rectangular feathers branching off a few inches underneath the coiling snakes head. The entire design was white, making said design popping out again the black sturdy material.

It was designed for war and battle, and on the inside, it had chakra absorbent seals on the top and on the face of the head to avoid jutsu's from breaking the mask.

Specifically Rasengan.

The man grinned. _No errors._

He continued walking through the dark corridor of the cave, his eyes well-adjusted to the dark. His arm fell to his side, the mask still in hand as he finally arrived at his destination to the heart of the cave. It was practically empty, save for the desk and medical supplies. Weaponry hung from walls, cloaks neatly stacked next to the desk.

Stalagmite towered and some even connecting from top to bottom, creating thin pillars. He made his way towards the other end of the heart of the cave, towards the desk. He set the mask down on the wooden table top, pulling out a scroll.

He stepped back, opening the scroll to reveal scribbles of standard storage seals. He took a step back, kneeling and putting up his index and middle fingers. He molded his chakra, and from the three seals, out came three separate DNA's. One was a vile of blood and water, another was a chunk of preserved in a skintight bag, and the last was some long strands of dark brown hair in another skintight bag tightly closed.

Another pulse of chakra later, and three corpses popped out of three other storage seals beneath the first three, all appearing on their backs. They all had fatal injuries, but it was not paid any attention to. The man simply walked up to the scroll, picking up the DNA samples.

He sped through a few hand seals, the ground rumbling as three coffins pushed their way up through invisible summoning seals. The lids fell open, the man pushing the corpses in, DNA samples following in their expected coffins. He closed the lids, the boxes falling back into the ground.

The man sighed. "Just a few more steps," he murmured to himself. _And then things will get rolling._

He pulled out another mask, staring at its disturbing grin before slipping it on. He sighed again, though it was much more shaky than the first time around. His expression hardened underneath the pale mask, his arms moving to press his palms together.

Wind picked up, swirling and tampering with the dark cloak he wore. A pale, intimidating figure started to take form, the wind picking up even further. The shape's details took form, and soon enough, it showed the Shinigami.

" _Shiki Fūjin: Kai_!"

A slash appeared across the Shinigami's gut, spilling out one soul. But the man's own gut wound spilled blood, and he only provided a grunt of pain. The soul disappeared along with the Shinigami, but the man ignored it. He simply pulled his palms apart, panting slightly and letting himself rest for a few seconds. Already the wound was closing up.

He lifted his arms again, performing the tiger, snake, dog and dragon hand seals, ending the sequence of signs with a clap of hands. The coffins rose once again, the lids dropping for a second time.

" _Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei_ ," the cloaked man murmured.

However, when they dropped, it did not reveal the original corpses as seen before.

The man smirked at the three men, three pairs of dark eyes staring at him in confusion and resentment. His smirk turned into a grin as he spoke, the giddiness not being missed in his voice, "Welcome back to the living, gentlemen."

* * *

 **"Fūin no Sho": "Scroll of Seals"**

 **"Rasengan": "Spiraling Sphere"**

 **"Shiki Fūjin": "Dead Demon Consuming Seal"**

 **"Shiki Fūjin: Kai": "Dead Demon Consuming Seal: Release"**

 **"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei": "Summoning: Impure Reincarnation"**

 **That man is not Kabuto, nor is he Orochimaru.**

 **So, who is he?**

 **Peace! :3**


	9. Precipitate

**TammyHybrid21: Ah, well, he was shivering pretty bad, and after that, he got pretty sick. I just didn't show it because it was supposed to happen this chapter. Which, it didn't. Yeah, my FEELZ hurt top D: And Kakashi could already being doing something stupid. Ya never know~~**

 **And yeah, Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura have yet to tell. To Minato, Sasuke is just the husband to Sakura and student to Kakashi. He won't learn of Sasuke's Uchiha status until later; he borrows Sakura's surname for a bit. Shit does hit the fan this chapter, actually. Lol. This chapter drops hints as to who the Edo Tensei are. Thanks for your review :3**

 **Woo! Ape Caves! Rocky as FUCK, but that's to be expected. It took friggin forever to get through that damnable cave. There was one point where I had to help these two boys get up a six foot wall. Sigh. But it was fun. Lots and lots of climbing. And I only got 2 hours of sleep. Last time I walk three miles with no sleep like that. :|**

 **Original word count: 4.2k~**

 **Recommended songs: Hurting for a Very Hurtful Pain by VY1 & VY2, and or Monster by Imagine Dragons.**

 **Enjoy my eidolon chapter :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 8: Precipitate_

* * *

 _Eight years later…_

* * *

Thoughts. Lies. Hatred. Self-loathe. More hatred. More self-loathe. Guilt. Conflict. Drowning in insecurities. Worrying constantly. Not trusting anybody. Keeping enemies close and friends being a thousand miles away.

Things he hated were popping up. Things he loathed were becoming inevitable daily actions. Things he wanted to forget were repeating in his mind.

Emotions rose to high levels, and on occasion, he lost control of himself; he had to be pinned down by five swords on his limbs along with a needle stuck into his vocal cords to shut him up and to ultimately get him to be deemed reasonable. It happened in front of half of the organization, nonetheless.

Orders were given, _scarred_ into his mind.

Conflict rose.

Unfortunately, conflict was an option not to be presented. He was ordered to never feel conflict; it was either do this or that, no matter what the situation was. Worst part was, he follows it blindly and unwillingly, like how the other orders scarred in.

"Kirai. Are you listening? This is _important_."

Said man turned his black masked face towards Pain—the overall leader of the Akatsuki. Kirai was the current leader of the frontline section of the Akatsuki, as the organization was divided and expanded.

The two other leaders were sitting across from him. They, too, wore masks; the leader of the healing system wore an Hannya mask that resembled the Shinigami, and it popped out against his dark brown hair. The leader of the intelligence division wore a gas mask with dark tinted goggles, making him look rather intimidating with his black hair to top it off. He, Kirai, wore a black mask that covered the top of his head, a white ring and three tomoe—two acting as eyeholes—circling around a coiling snake in the middle with rectangular wings that expanded out to his temples.

His eyes narrowed, annoyance bubbling up. But it dispersed. He loathed working with his subordinates and superiors, but his black sclera just wouldn't give up. He wanted grey. He wanted to be free.

He nodded, the bottom of his mask stopping him from talking. He didn't understand, really. He was the only person out of the three who was restrained to talking. He usually muttered a few sentences during a conversation, but he often used inside hand signals and morse codes to communicate.

Pain's stare lingered before he nodded stiffly. "Flexibility report."

"Terrible," Kirai grumbled, reluctant to talk loudly. "Kakuzu isn't very good at being paired with non-'immortals', but I've got some ideas as who can partner up with him. But Hidan is still practically his soulmate. The others have adjusted. Collaborations are going better than expected. Hidan is working well with me and Kakuzu, Deidara is finally getting things done with Orochimaru in collaboration. Nothing much else to report, really…" _But Deidara would've worked so well with Sasori. And Shisui and Kisame would've been even_ better _…bummer that they're gone._

"Very well," Pain replied, nodding in approval. "I'm trusting you with pairing them up. Atama, is there anything we should know?"

Atama, the head of the intelligence division, shook his head, his deep voice muffled by the gas mask he wore, "Nothing of concern. We've done our jobs, and we're staying up to date."

Pain nodded his approval again, turning his head to the head of the intelligence division—the one who wore the Hannya-like Shinigami mask. "And you, Yū?"

"Little progress here and there, jutsu's are developing," Yū responded. "Within the next two months, Sekiryū no Saisē Jutsu should be completed along with the modified version of Sōzō Saisei. We can only teach it to a select few of Kirai and Atama's division. They would have to have iryō-nin level chakra control for it. Also, In'yu Shōmetsu's modifications have been completed."

The orange haired Rin'negan user nodded once more. He scanned the three men, his eyes narrowed quickly. "…Good to hear progress. We are making a move within this month. We've gained information on all of the jinchūriki, from Shukaku to the Kyūbi. Now we just need to seek them out. Yū, Kirai, Atama, collaborate. Get everybody paired up before next meeting, which will be in a day. One medic, one information gatherer, and one frontline member per team. It is okay to have leftovers. Dismissed."

The three masked men instantly stood, bidding their farewell before walking out of the meeting room. Once they were out of earshot, Kirai growled vehemently. " _Last minute_ work…I hate it. _Loathe_ it."

Yū sighed, shaking his head. "It's a wonder as to why they call you Kirai," he said sarcastically. "Anyways, we have no flexibility whatsoever between our divisions. So we'll have to go by personality or ambitions."

"Best idea you've had all decade," Atama grumbled. He sighed as well, crossing his arms. "Do we know everybody well enough to pair them up?"

"I do," Yū stated.

Kirai simply grunted.

Atama nodded. "Good. This will make things easier."

The rest of the walk was bathed silence.

* * *

"We're done," Atama announced, slapping the folder onto the table and folding his arms across his chest. Over half of the Akatsuki were already sitting in their spots, all eyes landing on the gas mask-wearing division leader. "Don't give us last minute work like that. Ever. Do you have _any idea_ how irritating it is to work with Kirai to do shit like this?"

"Well, you go it done," Pain pointed out. "And this is the second to last chunk of desk work you will have to suffer through."

Atama grunted, Yū whooped and had a mini-party while Kirai just stared. Yū then proceeded to frolic. Kirai growled in annoyance, twisting around as Yū frolicked behind him, giving the Hannya-like masked man an upper cut. Said division leader fell backwards onto his butt.

"Prick," he snarled.

Yū slumped over in a bout of depression, mumbling something.

"Shut up."

"Meanie," he grumbled.

"Do _not_ fight in my presence," Pain chided. "Now, sit. The meeting starts in five, and the others will be here within that time span."

The three division leaders sat down in their spots, Kirai closest to Pain and Atama furthest. Soon enough, the rest of the Akatsuki arrived, all sitting in their spots, dressed in their cloaks. The healing division members had gauze wrapped over their palms, the information division had makimono's sewed into their cloaks, and the frontline division had their rings on their fingers. Pain nodded once as greeting. "As you all know, our objective is to capture all of the jinchūriki and absorb the bijū."

Many nodded or stayed silent.

"The jinchūriki are strong," Pain stated. "Stronger than your average jōnin. They can inflict damage worse than thought possible, and thus, we have assigned people to eight teams. Each will have one medic, one information gatherer and one frontline member." He opened the file, and started naming off people and their teams, "Team One: Deidara, Jūgo, Hashimoto. Team Two: Hidan, Takahashi Yūdai, Kurosawa Fubuki. Team Three: Kakuzu, Kimimaro, Satsuki. Team Four: Konan, Samui, Kiseki. Team Five: Myself, Haruno Sasuke, Haruno Saki. Team Six: Oto, Kosuke, Karin. Team Seven: Orochimaru, Suigetsu, Karin. And finally, Team Eight: Kirai, Atama and Yū. Team Eight has a fourth member, but he is incapacitated and missing. If we were to ever find him, he is to be a part of your team."

Kirai scoffed loudly and openly. He absolutely hated Kuro Zetsu and Pain _knows_ it. And yet, here he was, supposed to be on a team with the creature of hell.

"Do not complain," Pain snapped coldly. "You are all dismissed. Get acquainted with one another. All assignments will come in within three days."

Kirai scoffed again, killing intent spilling.

" _Somebody_ owes me inarizushi," Atama seethed in a whisper.

Yū simply sighed hopelessly, the three remaining with Pain as the other twenty members walked away, a few already talking. The Hannya-like masked shinobi glanced at the orange haired Rin'negan user. "So," he started. "Eight teams, nine bijū. Who's going to take who?"

"Who is faster?" Pain questioned, ignoring Yū completely.

"…Probably Kirai," Atama said thoughtfully. "He's got at escaping, and can match the Namikaze brat in a speed race nose to nose. Not to mention his ability to become intangible."

Said masked man winced, his head whipping toward the darkly dressed division leader. Red eyes glowed furiously, the pattern twisting into three-points. His expression, despite being covered by his mask, was obvious to read: "Speak any further and regret it."

Atama's own response was two glowing red eyes of his own, and they stared one another down, not blinking, not moving and sure as hell not turning away.

Yū sighed. "He _is_ quicker," he agreed. "Why?"

Pain simply nodded, his eyes narrowing. "I have a mission for you, Yū, Atama. You two are to protect Kirai until we get to the Kyūbi. Sacrifice your souls if you have to, he must remain as one of the last living members, should see get killed off during the process."

They all turned their heads towards Pain, two pairs of red eyes staring him down. Atama spoke first, "Why should I?"

"Because I say so. And I will tell a certain someone that you have questioned my orders," Pain threatened. "You _will_ obey, Atama. Am I clear?"

Atama silently seethed, nodding only once. He abruptly stood, turning and walking away. Yū sighed, and followed. But Kirai stayed, staring at Pain with a certain sharpness that made Nagato uneasy. "…I can defend myself perfectly fine," he growled through gritted teeth. "Why are you doubting me?"

"I am not," Pain responded easily. "You are aware of the spies, no?"

"I've been aware of the knowledge, but I don't know who they are," he stated smoothly, lying through his teeth.

"The same goes for me," Pain replied. "But it's for that sole reason that I order them to protect you. Those spies will try something when we reach the Kyūbi. Maybe even the Hachibi. And you are assigned to catch the Kyūbi."

Kirai stiffly nodded, swallowing thickly. _I have to see…I_ need _to see t—_

"You're dismissed."

* * *

"Ramen."

"Ramen?"

"Ramen."

"Where, dattebayo?!"

"Idiotic student of mine, there is no ramen."

"What?!" Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto shouted, flinging a kunai towards the direction of Hatake Kakashi, who easily ducked. A cry of alarm and a thunk later, Naruto had a lump on his head—curtesy of Uchiha Sarada, who was dumped on their doorstep seven years ago because of a long-term mission Minato assigned Sakura and Sasuke.

"You idiot!" she shouted, glaring. "Don't through kunai like that!"

The blonde fifteen year old glared back at the thirteen-almost-fourteen year old. "Says who?"

"Says _me_ ," Kushina snapped, cracking her knuckles as she stepped into the dining room table where the trio were at. But her snappy mood disappeared. "Ramen. We _must_ have ramen. Where's Mina—I mean, my money at? No, fuck it. Where's Minato at?"

"Yay, 'ttebayo!"

Kakashi simply sighed, but he was smiling behind his newly found Icha Icha book and mask. Lots had happened in the past eight years. One of the most significant was the alliance being created nearly a decade earlier. Minato was informed of the Akatsuki by Sakura and Sasuke. The Yondaime called a meeting, gathering all five Kage, and told them of the organization, bringing in evidence that Sasuke managed to get his hands. The alliance was secretly formed from there, shinobi "defecting", making themselves known, and getting into Akatsuki. Right now, there were three spies: Sakura, Sasuke and Samui. Each would come every year, report and then leave ASAP to avoid suspicion.

Their reports were…interesting.

Akatsuki was divided into three parts with a total of twenty-four members, one being incapacitated. There were three division leaders: Kirai, Yū and Atama. Pain was the ultimate commander, and Konan was his advisor. Kirai was the leader of the frontline division, having a temper and loathed everyone ranging from Yū to the twenty-fourth mystery member. Yū was the division leader of the healing section, and he was the "happy-go-lucky" one. Atama was the leader of the information division, and was the one who grumped and snapped at members like a cranky old man. The frontline division was _full_ of S-class, as expected.

The only differences was Kisame, Sasori and Itachi; all three were replaced by Atama, Yū and Kirai. The healing division had mostly women, but the women were… _violent_ , according the Sakura; one or two had level heads, and one of them was _Sakura_. The informational division consisted of mostly level headed shinobi with amazing stealth skills, a few of them being Kimimaro, Samui and Sasuke.

"Sensei!" Naruto shouted, snapping Kakashi out of his musing. He grinned. "Ramen?"

"No ramen."

" _What_!" Naruto gaped. "Wha—where the hell is Kakashi-sensei?! Y'know, the one who never says never to ramen?!"

Kakashi sighed, turning the page. He looked up, giving the blonde an eye smile. "I'm _extremely_ busy today. Like, extremely busy," he stated. A smirk etched across his face as Naruto dramatically stuttered, Kushina sporting an amusing horrified look.

But the red haired Uzumaki snapped out of it, "The least you can do, if you aren't going, is giving us your wallet." She smiled sweetly, inching closer and closer. "Please~?"

The Hatake glanced at her, nearly nose-to-nose. He blinked. "But I'm broke from helping that cat—"

"Give it."

"Okay," he squeaked, pulling out his wallet and handing it over.

Both Uzumaki's cheered and quickly left, leaving a mortified Hatake and an overly-amused Uchiha.

* * *

Kirai was quick. He was stealthy, powerful, and was good with any weapon. Swords, gunbai's, poles, shakujō's, kunai's, shuriken of all sorts, and he even knew how to manage Namikaze Minato's customized three-pronged kunai. He was an expert at time-space ninjutsu, and had created a taijutsu style of his own that he only told people of, never taught it. Only a few chosen number would recognize it, and fewer would be able to counter it on the spot.

He had Mokuton, Sharingan and the Mangekyō—he knew his history well, and he knew ideal healing techniques that could be pulled out in the middle of battle. He had knowledge of physiology of many creatures, mainly humans, foxes and cats. He was smart—capable, a cold killing machine, and at the same time, he was an endearing friend to more than a couple of people.

But because Kirai had Mokuton, he was stronger than more than half of his peers; Yū, Pain, Atama, Sasuke and Oto are the few ones that could counter it with their own power. He had advantages when in a nature-surrounded area, and could merge with even more surroundings.

If it wasn't for his expertise in battle tactics, ninjutsu, bukijutsu, dōjutsu and taijutsu, then he most likely would've been in Atama's position as the informational division leader. And he was honestly glad for that; frontline division _always_ has the freedom of being able to go absolutely anywhere they want as long as they don't create trouble.

Because of that, he was creeping through Konoha, heading towards the Hokage's mansion. He was only a few minutes away from it, but two extremely familiar chakra signatures made him stop sharply. He turned his head towards the street, seeing Kushina and Naruto through the wall walking towards Ichiraku's, as he was merged with his surroundings.

They were both grinning and talking more like best friends than and mother and son would, Kushina listening to Naruto's stories of probably something completely stupid—but amusing and probably perverted. The boy always was like that, and he wasn't ashamed of it.

Kirai smiled brightly and nostalgically, a lump forming in his throat and a guilty feeling tugging at his chest as he watched the two walk away. But it quickly faded when he heard somebody speak—a redundant suggestion that made him seethe at the notion. He ignored it, but the voice became louder and louder until it reached the normal voice level of a conversation, his irritation rising with it.

Only moments later did he feel his own chakra spike, albeit it was small and barely unnoticeable. The talisman within his head throbbed and gave him a killer headache. He fisted his cloak, growling like an animal.

 _Kill everybody. Hate everybody. Spite everybody._

That did it. He sneered, snarling and jumping out of the building's wall. With a shout of something not him, he crashed into a wall of an apartment complex, ignoring the screams and impact of concrete. He didn't hesitate to jump—though he scrambled like a cat on ice more than anything—out of the building, chakra pumping to his fist much like how Sakura does. He used a chakra-enhanced leap, and aimed said punch for somebody. He wasn't sure who it was, but he heard a shout of pain, a crack of bones, saw something something yellow, and then his world turned completely black, his hearing distant and his thoughts dark.

* * *

Things were peaceful. Quiet, happy and enjoyable. The sun could actually be something to enjoy being under, and shinobi could relax in hot springs.

It was like that for a long time, but up until a month ago, it felt more like the calm before the storm for Minato. Being Hokage for nearly eighteen years gave him somewhat of a sixth sense regarding that kind of thing. The peace was kept mainly thanks to Sakura and Sasuke—politically, at least. But it was more thanks to Sakura than anything. Sasuke usually stood there and looked like he was going to gut someone rather than be political.

But he always looked like that.

The blonde Yondaime turned his head towards the window, eyeing the streets warily. Ever since the weekend, he felt rather paranoid. He ended up marking nearly every single building over the week, over half of his shinobi having the Hiraishin mark as well. He even went as far as doubling the village patrols, and still, nothing happened. But today was especially bad. He woke up at three in the morning, spoke with Shiro and Guruguru about Obito and then headed to work to get an early start at three forty-five.

It wasn't abnormal. He spoke with the clones a lot about his troubles often. At one point, Kakashi started talking to them and soon enough, they became an odd form of "family therapists". Kushina pitched in, and then Sakura and Sasuke, and even a few other ANBU were talking to them. The more broken ones, at least.

It would've made him smile at the thought of them helping people heal emotionally if it wasn't for the tension he felt.

"He's here."

Minato winced, turning his head up to the ceiling where Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu's heads were hanging from. He narrowed his eyes. "Who is?"

"Kirai," Guruguru stated.

As if a cue, something in the domestic and food district crashed loudly, making the Hokage shoot up from his seat. He turned his head towards the apartment building that was apparently crashed into. He scoffed. "Was that him?"

"Dunno."

 _It better not be one of the chūnin picking a fight with the jōnin again._

Using Hiraishin, he teleported to the closest marking to the disaster, only to see a masked man with a chakra loaded fist jump up in the air, aiming straight for Kushina. His eyes widened. He reacted quickly, and teleported towards her, shouting painfully when the fist made contact with his upper left arm, breaking his bone and shoulder. He grabbed his wife and Naruto, teleporting away as the mans fist made contact with the ground next, creating a crater.

Ninja quickly started evacuating the civilians, taking no time to spare. Some were being dragged and others were simply being led.

The masked man turned his head towards Minato, a pair of glowing red eyes staring with a vicious but clouded and dead look. The Yondaime blinked, only seeing the red glow of the familiar _Sharingan_ — _why does he have it?_ he wondered absently—before turning his cerulean eyes away to avoid a genjutsu being cast on him. He cringed, his expression becoming grim as he felt the pain of his left arm settling in, his expression becoming steely as he began to try and ignore the stinging pain. Tsunade's chakra signature spike and, within a few seconds, she was already healing him.

Three years ago Minato would've thought her to be crazy returning to Konohagakure willingly. But Naruto went with Jiraiya to find her, and inspired her enough to return to heal up Hiruzen after he was injured badly in the Oto-Suna invasion by Orochimaru, who killed the Yondaime Kazekage and masqueraded as said Kage for nearly two weeks with perfection. And now she was one his advisors, Sarada's master, Naruto's grandmother-figure, and Konoha's strongest kunoichi.

The masked man looked up at Tsunade, dead and frighteningly calm eyes staring her down. He looked at Minato, Kushina, and then Naruto, stiffening in a painfully obvious manner.

Four ANBU jumped down from the building roofs, attacking the Akatsuki member collaboratively. But the attacks went straight through him, clashing in smoke and steam. They all grunted barely a second later when the back of their necks had the butt end of a sword hit them and knock them out cold simultaneously. The four clones then disappeared in a vortex, the Akatsuki member reappearing in the exact same spot as one. This time, his hands and shoulders were shaking, making the four ninja before him stare in tense confusion.

The Akatsuki man's shoulders continued shaking uncontrollably, laughter bubbling in his throat that sounded rather…insane. A vortex appeared right in front of him, a fūma shuriken appearing out of nowhere. He grabbed it, and threw it towards them. The group jumped up and out of the way, avoiding the attack. But Kirai took the chance, " _Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu_!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. He swallowed, landing on a rooftop far enough to avoid the attack.

 _That's Obito-nii's signature Fire Release technique…_

The fire faded, but the buildings were on fire. More Konoha ninja—and some visiting foreign ninja from the alliance—charged towards him, but all stopped abruptly when Minato shouted his order for them to fall back and to protect the civilians. They obeyed, albeit reluctantly, and pulled away from the battle.

Naruto's head whipped towards Kushina, eyes wide as Kirai appeared in a vortex barely even a foot on her left. "Kaa-chan!"

The older Uzumaki turned her head, panic in her eyes. She quickly recovered, yanking out a kunai and slicing the Akatsuki member across the chest with a deep slash that was bound to be fatal. The blow would've assured their victory, but instead of the red liquid they expected, they gained flecks that signified what he was.

Tsunade gaped, brown eyes wide with shock. She knew the technique, it's effects and pros along with one or two cons. "He's an Edo Tensei! Get away from him!"

Both Uzumaki's jumped away, avoiding the chakra infused punch he sent towards them and landing next to Minato and Tsunade. The punch impacted the roof, practically shattering the beams underneath.

"Who are you?" Tsunade questioned, her eyes narrowed dangerously as she spiked her chakra as a warning.

Kirai scoffed. "Hn. Doesn't matter. Wouldn't make a difference," he growled out. His voice was strained, and he was shaking again. But it wasn't from laughter this time—it was pain. The man was starting to pant heavily. Not to mention, his fists were balled up tightly. The Senju medic noticed that; they were signs of severe pain being tolerated. She had seen it once before.

Minato suddenly disappeared from where he crouched a few inches in front of her, reappearing next to the shaking masked man with a Rasengan in hand. He was only a foot away from the mans head when, seemingly out of nowhere, a blue sword that could only be identified as the Susano'o appeared. The sword smashed down on the ground, blocking the Rasengan and throwing Minato back quite a few feet. He jumped off of the roof, landing next to Kushina.

The Susano'o sword moved, pulling itself off of the roof. The bony arm pushed itself up, the upper half of a four-armed, two-headed skeleton of a blue glowing humanoid following. A darkly dressed man with an Akatsuki cloak, long hair and a gas mask was at the base of the Susano'o, another Akatsuki man with long straight hair and a Shinigami-like Hannya mask jumping up next to said Susano'o. Gas Mask put his index and middle finger up, his chakra pulsing before Kirai could move.

Kirai sucked in a deep breath, his chakra quickly being drained to nothing before he completely shut down and knocked out, falling backwards. But Hannya Mask caught him, slipping Kirai onto his back. Gas Mask's red glowing eyes narrowed.

"We, the three division leaders of Akatsuki, declare war on the Shinobi Alliance," he stared gravely and simply. The other four shinobi's eyes widened, but before they could move, the Susano'o moved. It grew until it was a full body humanoid—a perfect Susano'o. It scooped up Kirai and Hannya Mask, jumping away and out of the village before anybody could make any movements to pursue them.

Minato's eyes widened. "War…"

* * *

 **"Kirai": "Hate"; "Loathe"**

 **"Atama": "Intelligent"**

 **"Yū": "Hero"**

 **"Takahashi": "High Bridge"; "Hawk peck"**

 **"Yūdai": "Great Hero"**

 **"Hashimoto": "Bridge Support"**

 **"Kurosawa": "Black swamp"**

 **"Fubuki": "Snowstorm"; "Blizzard"**

 **"Kosuke": "Sunrise"**

 **"Satsuki": "Month Five"; "May"**

 **"Kiseki": "Miracle"**

 **"Oto": "Sound"**

 **"Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu": "Fire Release [Style]: Majestic Flame Destroyer"**

 **"Sekiryū no Saisē Jutsu": "A Lizard's Regeneration Technique"**

 **"Sōzō Saisei": "Creation Rebirth"**

 **"In'yu Shōmetsu": "Yin Healing Wound Destruction"**

 **One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just don't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others, by the time I finish my song?**

 **Yeah, one of the OCs isn't an OC. It's a CC. Which is which?**

 **Peace! :3**


	10. Interlude

**TammyHybrid21: The timeline is Shippūden. Before, it was before Part I, and now it's right around that time when Naruto returns from his trip with Jiraiya, and when Akatsuki finally make their move and take Gaara. Lol, the…theory as to who they are are in this chapter. The teams are balanced, almost all of them having OCs.** **The "voice in my head" thing is explained in this chapter as well. Yup, therapist!Guruguru and Shiro ^3^ Lawlz. Thanks for your review :3**

 **WDW: I appreciate that. If you want, I can explain the timeline/DT-TT thing via PM. Thanks for your review :3**

 **Had a shitty week. Phone got crushed on the highway, my aunts mother died on a highway, my friend moved, another friend is giving me the goddamned cold shoulder and I stubbed my toes and ankles on my bed. Plus I'm moving. Yeah. Fun.**

 **Recommended songs: The World Calling by There For Tomorrow and The Loss by Hollywood Undead.**

 **Original word count: 3.9k~**

 **Enjoy my bullshit (yes, I've "run out" of words) (no, I'm not lazy) :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 9: Interlude_

* * *

When Atama and Yū suddenly left in the middle of a meeting with their divisions—along with one absent Kirai's frontline division—everybody was fairly surprised. Atama left in a bout of speed, leaving nothing but a blur behind. Yū called the meeting off, saying that they'd continue it later, and then sunk into the ground.

And while they were sitting there dumbfounded, the other two division leaders were pretty frantic. Over the first six or so months, their comrade and fellow division leader had been very defiant. Foolish and outright stupid, even. Each time he defied, the seals on the cuffs he wore would activate, draining all chakra, stinging his nerves relentlessly and caused him psychological trauma.

And while his body would heal, his emotional state worsened. He, once upon a time, defied Pain seven times in the six month time span, each time collapsing from chakra exhaustion along with mental and physical stress.

Because of the mental stress and trauma caused by said seals, he basically went insane. When the new was broken, he went into denial, and his "insanity" turned into a completely different persona—Multiple Personality Disorder. Typically, that side of Kirai would be unleashed when emotionally under stress and such, being "born" from mental stress.

He was not diagnosed with it, but the effects were evident, and thus, there really was "no need to", as their controller put it. Not to mention, Kabuto had experience in the mentality region, and knew when a man was mentally unstable.

Pain saw it as a threat to be subdued, and subdue it he did. Kind of. He put a seal over Kirai's forehead to alert Atama and Yū when the youngest of the three lost it.

This was one of those times.

The two reached Konoha, both wondering why Kirai was in an enemy hotspot, only for it to be brushed off as a matter to be dealt with later. Atama jumped from roof to roof, feeling a certain disgust creep up on him. But once more, he brushed it off.

He saw the Yondaime Hokage teleport next to Kirai, a spiraling sphere of dense chakra in his hand. Quickly, his eyes molded into a certain pattern, a skeletal blue four-armed, two headed mutated creature appeared over him, a sword in one of its hands. The sword quickly interrupted the attack, pushing the Kage back to the opposite side of the street.

Atama pulled him and his Susano'o up, eyes narrowed dangerously as he pulled the sword out of the roof, keeping the sword over Kirai's shaking frame. Yū joined not too long after, eyes sharp and ready for combat. The Edo Tensei's both stared at their shaking college for a few moments, both debating. But Atama was not patient—he put his index and middle finger up, his chakra pulsing and activating the seals.

Kirai gasped in shock and pain, falling onto his back; Yū caught him and slipped him on his back to prevent further impact and pain. Edo Tensei'd or not, one could still feel pain like any other normal living, breathing human being.

Atama's red eyes narrowed, an order being sent by his controller and summoner. He internally snorted, but obeyed anyway.

"We, the three division leaders of Akatsuki, declare war on the Shinobi Alliance," he announced coldly and gravely. He didn't hesitate to make his Susano'o grow until it reached its final form. Scooping Kirai and Yū up, he jumped away and out of the village in two bounds, running until he was sure he was out of sight enough to drop his Susano'o.

Luckily, there was a nearby abandoned and beaten down Akatsuki base. It was not longer used, but it was visited once a year. At _least_. It was a good place to put Kirai in until the shinobi calmed down and became reasonable enough to tell the difference between blood and oil.

The two conscious shinobi walked up to a tree, Atama performing the ram seal as a door opened, revealing a spiral staircase that winded down fifty feet under. They walked in, Atama sealing the doorway up before they proceeded down the steps.

They reached an infirmary after walking down a long, messy and rubble-filled hall. Holes in the ceiling and walls exposed sunlight, holes from a battle that occurred about six years ago. Rubble and beds scattered everywhere, dead leaves in corners. The battle was between Atama and Kirai—the latter and former had gotten mad at one another and needed to blow off some steam. And while the base really was still useable, it was too beaten up to be used as an actual official base.

"Do you think we need to pin him down again?" Yū asked as he put Kirai down on a mattress Atama pulled out a few moments earlier.

"Hn. I don't know. Maybe," Atama grumbled. He sat down, sitting comfortably on a root of a tree that dug its way deep into the cement via ceiling hole. "It ultimately depends on how bad his stress was."

Yū blinked, but nodded anyway. He glanced at Kirai. "Go ahead and deactivate the seals. It affects him even while he's unconscious," he pointed out.

Atama grunted, but did so anyways. A pulse of chakra later, and Kirai's reserves were already regenerating thanks to his status as an Edo Tensei, albeit his body was still tense. They sat in silence for a bit longer, the only sounds being the sounds of nature that leaked in through the holes on the ceiling.

It was broken, however, when Kirai suddenly shot up, his tachi slicing Yū across the chest, as the other man was sitting right next Kirai. Both shinobi backed away, Yū's wound healing up within seconds thanks to his own Edo Tensei status. He easily dodged another stab, sidestepping to the left. He pulled out a kunai of his own, throwing a number of shuriken that raced through Kirai with ease.

"Atama!" Yū snapped. "Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku! Now!"

"I already know!" Atama snarled. "Just gimme a second!"

He slapped his palms together, concentrating his chakra greatly for almost a full five seconds before sucking in a deep breath. He performed the snake hand seal, and all of the wood underneath the solid dirt ground breaking out. Wooden tendrils shot out, pinning Kirai down. The trees' roots wrapped around his limbs firmly, tight enough to break an alive persons bones.

But Kirai used his dōjutsu, and promptly went through the roots, laughing like a maniac and rushing forward with a shout, his sword poised and ready to slice off a head. Yū got in the way, blocking with his kunai.

Kirai's arm went up, and Yū twisted himself around to use a roundhouse kick. His foot went through Kirai's chest, and the latter slammed a chakra-enhanced fist into Yū's back, throwing the Hannya masked Edo Tensei onto his stomach next to Atama.

He got up, and glaring at his gas masked companion. "What are you doing?"

"You know he can't be put down with only one seal," Atama snapped. "The only reason he blacks out so quickly is because he blacks out from the sudden sharp pain of his nerves directly being shocked by foreign chakra."

"Then _why_ activate the other two?"

"Extra punch."

Yū stared at him, not really finding the logic in it, but was cut off when Kirai's laughing echoed again, the rampaging division leader dashing forward again. He swung his tachi, aiming for both Yū and Atama.

Yū blocked it easily with his kunai, taking advantage of Kirai's low position and kneed the man in the chin, only hitting hard porcelain. He swiftly brought his foot back down, crouching down and aiming a half-heart punch to the man's gut, his fist going through as expected. But he rushed forward into Kirai, leaving Atama wide open.

The other man scoffed, but put his index and middle finger up to activate Hageshī Sanzō Saiha Fūin. Instantly, Kirai made a sound of surprise from the sudden pain. He fell forward, coughing and growling out curses.

Kirai slowly moved his head up, leaning on his elbows with labored movements. Atama sighed heavily, his voice loud and clear in spite of the gas mask. "You're _done_ , Kirai. You are not amongst enemies," he snapped, "so stop acting like it."

The masked man growled again, muttering something offensive under his breath. He slowly sat up, shaking from the pain. "Hn…" he grumbled, wincing.

Yū sighed, chuckling in hopes of lifting spirits. "Well wasn't that unique."

Atama glared, mumbling something before turning away. "I'm doing a patrol. If a tree falls, don't worry about." He stalked away, the air around him dark and murky.

Yū sighed again, rolling his eyes before turning his head to the still-shaking Kirai. He blinked. "Why were you in Konoha, Kirai?"

The man grunted.

"Yeah. I _totally_ understand. Use words please. You're not five…though you do act like it."

Kirai mumbled something out, turning his head away and wincing again.

"What?" Yū frowned.

"My business," Kirai growled out.

The Hannya masked division leader sighed for a third time, shaking his head. "Well…if that's how you're gonna play…oh, by the way, who am I talking to? I get really confused as to who I'm talking to sometimes, because, you know…MPD plus idiot equals confusion—"

"Who do you think?" Kirai snapped.

Yū shrugged. "I don't know. I've talked to your…dark…well, dark _er_ side once upon a time like it was a casual conversation…"

"Are you decapitated?"

"…No."

"Then the answer should be obvious." The frontline division leader slowly stood up, grunting painfully as he did so. He ignored Yū's piercing stare, and limped away. "Bother me and die again."

The healer division sighed loudly, slumping over in depression. Eventually, Kirai was far away from the base—far away from Atama, but close enough to Yū. He slowly sat down against a tree that leaned far to his right, the roots clinging to the hole that lead down to the empty library of the abandoned Akatsuki base. It was surprisingly comfortable, and he was glad for that. Hageshī Sanzō Saiha Fūin was always a bitch to him.

It was even more of a bitch when he became an Edo Tensei. Before he died, he blacked out when he was overridden with pain. And while he still blacked out whilst as an Edo Tensei, he stayed down for thirty minutes, and it was always from mental stress.

Basically, his mind completely shut down.

But if it was just a solo seal, then he would always remain on the verge of unconsciousness, his vision dark and his mind distant. His senses would dull, and he wouldn't be able to walk in a straight line without being able to lean on someone, because his sense of direction would be tipped.

He didn't notice Saki and Sasuke landing in front of them until Saki flashed a flashlight into his eyes, making him blink and snap out of his daze. Kirai narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here?" he questioned with cold authority.

Sasuke blinked. "You're an Edo Tensei."

"…Yes. I am. Bright one, aren't'cha?" Kirai shot back bitterly and sarcastically. He slowly stood up, glaring the two down. Saki flinched. "It's no secret. Now answer my question. Why are you here?"

"…Hn," Sasuke grunted. "We were out and about, and we just so happened to stumble upon you. I take it Yū-sama and Atama-sama are with you?"

The man narrowed his eyes, obviously unconvinced. "They are close by," he replied simply. He looked at Saki. "I need you to relay a message to Pain."

She blinked. "ASAP?"

He nodded, stiffly pulling out a small, thin scroll no longer than his index finger. He unrolled it, and wrote down said message, letting the ink dry before rolling it back up. He secured it, and handed it to Saki.

"Don't waste anytime," he ordered.

Saki nodded, kissing a quick goodbye kiss on Sasuke's cheek before hopping back into the trees from where the two first emerged from—towards Amegakure. Kirai looked at Sasuke, who looked like he wanted to spill some beans—to him, at least.

The two staring at one another with Sharingan eyes. They never pulled away from one another, until the younger Uchiha blinked and sighed. "Is there something you need?" he snapped.

"Hn. You looked like you wanted to say something," Kirai responded easily.

Sasuke stood still for a long moment, a tick forming on his brow as annoyance rose on his face when the moment faded. "…Whatever. I'm leaving," he stated stiffly. "Goodbye, Kirai-sama."

The masked Edo nodded his farewell, cringing in pain. He put his head back against the bark of the slanted tree, slowly slumping over and, once again, staying on the crack in between conscious and unconscious.

* * *

Sasuke didn't show any emotions as Saki left, but he let his hand brush against her hip, taping his finger against her cloak in morse code. She showed no acknowledgement, simply jumping away with the message in hand. The silence wasn't awkward nor heavy to him, but it built up his annoyance.

The stare down made it worse, and he felt the need to verbally bite his head off. The longer he looked into Kirai's eyes, the more he saw the pain the division leader was going through. He internally frowned, outwardly blinking and sighing. "Is there something you need?" he asked bitterly.

Smugness flashed in Kirai's eyes for a brief second before he spoke. "Hn. You looked like you want to say something."

Sasuke stiffened, but forced himself to keep his composure. _Those are the exact words of Obito…_

 _"Why are you looking at me like that?"_

 _"You looked like you wanted to say something."_

 _"You're bothersome. You just wasted a full three hundred seconds of my life."_

 _An amused grunt sounded. "Hn."_

Nostalgia was the first thing that hit him, the annoyance and brow tick being the second. "…Whatever. I'm leaving," he stated stiffly. "Goodbye, Kirai-sama."

The masked division leader nodded his farewell, and Sasuke quickly took his leave, jumping up and heading towards the direction of Konoha. It remained calm for a good twenty or so minutes, crossing two miles in that time. He was in no hurry. But when he saw the crushed plant life that was caused by—what it seemed to be—giant footsteps.

He activated his Sharingan, and noticed that there was chakra remaining in the plants.

 _Uchiha_ -like chakra.

 _Susano'o?_ he wondered. His expression hardened. _That's not good…was Konoha attacked by those three?_

Then he realized something: They were only fifteen miles away from Konoha.

He increased his speed, fearing for the worst—a destroyed Konoha, a bunch of corpses and blood everywhere. And while he knew that he would be able to smell and sense it, he still felt uneasy. He had promised Naruto that he would protect Konoha, and dammit it all, he didn't want to fail again; failure was _not_ excepted. It hurt his Uchiha pride.

Relief washed over him when the walls came into view. There was no smoke actively billowing over the walls, no scent of blood or anything. The only scent if the normals ones of Konoha, and burnt wood. He looked up at the sky; there was remnants of smoke, and it looked to be recently dispersed.

Sasuke sharply turned away from his path, jumping from the sturdy branches of Konoha's trees before landing on the edge of a path, only about twenty meters from the gate.

Izumo and Kotetsu jumped in surprise, both shooting up and getting out of the stand to defend the entrance. "Why is Akatsuki here?" Kotetsu hissed.

Sasuke blinked stoically, putting his hand up. "It's fine," he stated. "And while it's an S-classed secret, you can trust me. What happened here?"

"One of your division leaders attacked," Izumo snapped. "He nearly killed Kushina-sama, and injured Hokage-sama."

 _Well, that's odd. Kirai would never hurt anybody without reason…unless he went bat shit insane again and lost control of his emotions…_ he thought. He frowned. _Most likely did. If my theory is correct, he wouldn't even dare to attack Konoha…let alone_ Kushina _…but then again, his "other self" is_ really _fucking insane and apathetic_. "Hn. Can one of you go get Minato-sama?" he asked, tipping his head slightly. "Tell him Sasuke is here."

The two glanced at each other before Izumo turned away and jumped across the rooftops to get Minato. Kotetsu kept his eyes on Sasuke, neither moving from one another.

The Uchiha decided to let himself ponder. _If_ his theory about Kirai was correct, then he knew the reason as to why he would visit Konoha on such a short note. It would explain the emotions, and why he lost his shit. But never before had he ever targeted anyone he knew in his before life.

Kirai had lost control once upon a time, three or so years ago. Happened in front of the Akatsuki; nearly killed Kakuzu, Deidara and Orochimaru. He attacked everybody but Yū, Sakura and himself. He even went for Pain and Konan. He evidently blacked out from mental and physical shock when Atama activated some seals, and they dragged him away. None of them saw him for a full month before he returned.

So it was only natural that, basing things off of the three year old incident, it made no sense that he attacked Kushina.

Sasuke was drawn out of his muse when he felt Minato and Izumo's chakra signature. They were in view already; Izumo looked like he had seen a ghost and Minato had his left arm in a sling, gauze wrapping around his upper arm. They both landed next to Kotetsu, the Yondaime dismissing them quietly before turning to the dark haired spy. "Where's Sakura?"

"Delivering a message," he replied. "She and I basically gathered the same intel. Nothing too big."

The Namikaze nodded, gesturing for him to take a walk down the path away from Konoha. "Your division leaders just attacked and declared war on us."

"War…" Sasuke repeated quietly. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Damn."

"Yeah." Minato nodded. He sighed as well. "Who are your division leaders?"

"There is Kirai—he's not the most stable man around, and he's the leader of the frontline division," Sasuke started, "he was the one with the black mask."

"He's the one who gave me this," the blonde muttered, waving the sling gently.

"Kirai is like Tsunade and Sakura; he has monster strength, though it isn't as good," the secret Uchiha added. "Then there is Yū, the leader of the healing division. He's…like a logical Tobi. He has Mokuton, and is probably one of the best healers. He acts like an idiot and gets depressed easily, but he is by no means an opponent to be underestimated. He's the one with the Hannya mask." His eyes narrowed.

"And then there is Atama, the leader of the informant division," he continued. "He is an Uchiha, and has amazing stealth skills. He knows a lot more than you think…his history is on-par, and he can gather information on the most guarded secrets within a few weeks, a month being tops. He has the gas mask. All three of them are Edo Tensei."

Minato nodded slowly, soaking in the information he received. "Now what of the intel you've gathered?" he asked.

"The teams have been assembled," Sasuke said darkly. "Three man teams; one frontline, one informant and one medic. Me and 'Saki' are on a team with Pain—the leader of the Akatsuki. So this may or may not be the last time we see each other before…that thing happens."

The Yondaime nodded, taking the scroll Sasuke handed to him and tucked it away from sight. He stopped walking, and glanced at the dark haired ninja. "Is there anything else?"

"Just one more thing," Sasuke murmured, looking around before speaking again. "I have my suspicions as to who the Edo Tensei are."

"…Go on."

"The first is Atama. I have suspected for a full five years that he is Uchiha Madara, and the Susano'o supports that theory to the point of where its a fact." Sasuke put up one finger, a second following. "Yū is a bit more flimsy, but it's logical. He has Mokuton and crazy good healing abilities that he has taught to more than one individual of the organization; it has made me come to believe that he is Senju Hashirama."

Minato sighed. "Formidable foes. I thank any god above that they aren't at their prime…"

Sasuke continued, putting a third and final finger up, "The third is much more unsupported, but the logic is still there. I believe that Kirai—the third and final division leader—is Obito."

The Namikaze sighed heavily, rubbing his temple with his good arm. "Naruto said that too…" he murmured stressfully. "I'm not denying it, but I'm not accepting it, either. There isn't enough evidence. And besides, even _if_ it's Obito, why would he attack Konoha? Unless he was controlled, then I _highly_ doubt Kirai is Obito."

Sasuke shook his head. "Kirai…Obito…has lost it; he's off his rocker."

"What? What happened?"

The Uchiha tapped his wrist. "Shinrisensō Fūin. He was very defiant the first few months, according to Yū and Atama. He also has the Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku and Hageshī Sanzō Saiha Fūin, all enhanced by the Kyōka Fūin. This supports my theory further. Anyways, whenever he was…being rebellious, the seals would activate and stay activated until he obeyed.

"Eventually he stopped, and became very loathsome towards a lot of things, gaining his alias and MPD in the process. But about three or so years ago, he completely lost his shit for some reason and injured all of the Akatsuki members—excluding myself, Saki and Yū. He almost killed Deidara, Kakuzu and Orochimaru, you know. What you saw was that _other_ side of Kirai." Sasuke blinked stoically when he finished, studying his Hokage.

Minato suddenly looked ten years older. He pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing his eyes for a long last moment before sighing like the weight of the world was upon him. "…Dammit…" he whispered. "Who's their reviver?"

"An unknown," the Uchiha stated. "Sorry, but there really isn't much we can do to backtrack. We'll deal with them later."

"Why? Lives will be lost; all of the power will go to that damn Jūbi," Minato snapped.

"The Jūbi isn't the Jūbi without all nine bijū. Gaara will be saved, don't worry," he said. He squinted. "…Unless you _want_ to risk our spy status."

"It's just…I hate having knowledge and not being able to do anything without it…"

Sasuke smirked. "Don't worry. The jinchūriki were all subdued to pain, Kushina's burden was only lightened because her status was kept a secret to the public." His face turned sour. "I knew a jinchūriki who had a lonely childhood, full of abuse because of his status. Gaara and Kushina are _lucky_ , Minato. I assure you, the other six will embrace that death, and the only reason they will resist is because of those thin bonds they hold—thinner than hair."

The Namikaze sighed again. "…I need space to think. Make sure you weren't followed," he said, turning and walking away back towards the village. "Until next time, Sasuke."

"Mm-hmm," Sasuke hummed absently, turning and continuing his walk away. His smirk turned into a small smile of amusement. _I can't believe he bought that…_

* * *

 **"Hageshī Sanzō Saiha Fūin": "Violent Nerve Breaker Seal"**

 **"Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku": "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Exhaustion"**

 **"Shinrisensō Fūin": "Psychological Warfare Seal"**

 **"Kyōka Fūin": "Enhancement Seal"**

 **…I just realized I forgot to add the preview last chapter. Oops.**

 **Well, I was tired. I post and write when I'm tired; I need a Monster. But my parents will kill me if they find me bouncing off the walls at four in the morning.**

 ***grumble grumble***

 **This update was slower than usual because I've been working on an original story of Wattpad (pen name: Kaguya-no-Mikoto). And depending on how far my head is turned towards that story, then updates may or may not come slower. Depends.**

 **TSoPG is coming much more slower than I thought, it's rough to figure out because I haven't touched or reflected on it. But I'm managing.**

 **Preview:**

"This didn't happen last time around."

"Of course it didn't," Sasuke snapped at Sakura. "Nothing has happened like last time around."

She frowned. "No! I mean…they're going after the bijū at random…"

"So?"

"You're such a dumbass!" she shouted. "Figure it out yourself, shannarō!"

 **Peace! :3**


	11. Eight Birds—Two Blades

**TammyHybrid21: (I'm sorry I didn't say this earlier, but get better soon :3) Lol, I've had a story released where Naruto had MPD on my Natsumi account, but I deleted it because it never made it. Yeah, fuck being stealthy when you can crush the land with giant footsteps! Who needs stealth? Sorry about the timeline thing…? Dunno what to say about that. Sasuke isn't really up to anything, he just fed Minato bullshit. Kind of. I guess. Not sure. Thanks for your review :3**

 **Recommended songs: BURN IT DOWN by Linkin Park and Lost in the Echo by Linkin Park.**

 **Original chapter word count: 5.3k~ (almost beats my new record, which is 5.6k~)**

 **Enjoy my calamitous chapter :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 10: Eight Birds—Two Blades_

* * *

 _Two weeks later…_

* * *

It was an evening the guards of Suna couldn't exactly erase from their minds. A sand storm had just passed, so it was still cloudy and dark. But the sun peeked through just above the rolling hills and mountains to expose its dusk light. Baki, who just so happened to be guarding along with Kankuro, saw it. But it wasn't beautiful—it was…ominous. Foreboding.

Kankuro blinked, scanning the light it emitted. In the center of all the red—with the slight tint of orange—was the blinding sun. He looked at his sensei, and fellow jōnin, with a frown. "It's practically the color of blood."

Baki could only nod.

* * *

Sending the jinchūriki out on a mission was rather risky nowadays. The attack on Konoha two weeks ago made the Kage's paranoia worse. Figuring out who two of the three division leaders were made it skyrocket, some even worse than others.

Temari—the Rokudaime Kazekage, promoted only recently after Baki stepped down as a filler after Rasa's death once she reached eighteen—was one of the the "worse than others". This specific client made it difficult to choose a ninja that is on-par with Hatake—the _suicidal_ Hatake.

She had no shinobi like that, because they were all _dead_. The only other person who could take the mission was Gaara and she sure as hell wasn't risking him; not when war was breathing down their necks. Kankuro was an option…but he was an A-ranked jōnin. Almost S-ranked, but not quite there. Plus he wasn't suicidal.

The Rokudaime wasn't stupid; no matter how high paying it was, she couldn't be shorted on shinobi, suicidal or not.

She huffed reluctantly, and put it in the pile of papers where it was to be secretly passed off to another village. It was a system they developed, and it was worth it. The money would be split as evenly as possible between the original village the mission was assigned to and the village who took it.

Temari turned her head to the small round window of the Kazekage's office. The sky's were cloudy, but said clouds were dispersing to reveal the dark evening sky. From over the sandy walls, however, she saw the red light of dusk. It was an unnerving shade of red, too. It reminded her of an odd color of blood.

Her eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right, if the red sunset was anything to go by. She scanned the tops of the walls, her mouth twisting into a frown. _Where are the top wall guards…?_

She sensed fast and frantic movement, whipping her head towards the door just in time to see Kankuro barge in. He was panting, his Kabuki face paint was smeared, and his right arm was mangled—a shattered and defective piece of his scapula stuck out to prove its mangled status. "Akatsuki!" he shouted with wide, fearful eyes. "Akatsuki are here—they're attacking Gaara!"

Temari stared in shock, shooting up and out of her seat. " _What_?!"

"Baki's dead!" he continued. "A-and Gaara sensed the trouble—smelled the _blood_ —and came to help! He's locked in a battle just outside the entrance with Akatsuki! Sis, we—we have to do something! He's gonna die!"

"Calm down. I'll go there myself," she said, standing up and briskly marching out of her office. She looked at Kankuro, "Go straight to a medic-nin." She turned her head towards all of the shinobi guarding her office. "Everybody in this tower: Evacuate the citizens! Spread the news that Akatsuki is here! _ASAP_!"

All of the shinobi scattered, and ran off towards the exit, a medic-nin hurrying to perform a quick emergency first-aid surgery on Kankuro. Temari grabbed her fan, and ran out of the Kazekage's office. She rushed through the streets, racing past some citizens and fellow shinobi before taking to the roofs. She easily reached the entrance, noting all of the dead shinobi that were scattered in pools of blood.

She jumped up, spreading out her war fan all the way up to the third circle with a menacing glare towards the two Akatsuki members who dared to try and steal Gaara. " _Fūton: Tatsu no Ōshigoto_!"

With a mighty swing—right when she hit the entrance—a large tornado swirled into existence from her fan, Gaara pitching in and adding blades of sand to the technique. The two members easily dodged, one of them sticking to the sandy walls and the other jumping out towards the eternal hills of the desert.

Temari narrowed her eyes, joining her brothers side with the fan behind her back. "You alright?" she asked.

"Nothing new," Gaara stated apathetically. But his eyes narrowed. "They're stronger than anticipated, though."

The Rokudaime simply nodded. _There are only two. From what Minato-dono has told us, they're put in three man teams._ "Where's your third member?"

"Seems like they're already informed, hm," the blonde haired one said. He sported a menacing grin. "No point in hiding, Hashimoto."

"Damn. Would've been awesome if they didn't know…" a brunette grumbled as he pulled himself out of the shadows. Literally. He stood up and brushed himself off. On his fair skinned forehead was a red diamond, popping out against his dark chocolate brown hair and black eyes. He had bandages wrapped around his hands, and a small pony at the nape of his neck. He narrowed his eyes. "How do you know? Akatsuki is an organization of secrets and power."

"That's our secret," Temari said sharply. "I take it you are here to steal my brother, no?"

"Well of course we are, dip shit!" Deidara seethed. "Because we totally came here for fucking ice cream, hm!"

Hashimoto turned his head towards the blonde. "Please don't lose your temper this early in the battle, Deidara-san," he said calmly. He looked up at his third team mate, who had orange hair and brown eyes. "Jūgo-san…"

Jūgo made no sounds as he softly landed next to Hashimoto, dark markings spreading across one side of his face. His left sclera was black, and his iris had turned an ominous shade of yellow. He grinned, the side of his face and body turning into rock.

Hashimoto put his hands on his hips. "Go all out. Just don't take the lady. She's mine."

In a bout of speed, Jūgo leaped forward in a blur of orange and black, shouting as he aimed for Gaara's head. Deidara stuffed his hands on his clay bags, and joined the fight with Jūgo, throwing spider bombs behind the boys back only to be blocked.

Temari was about to leap into action, when she was stopped easily by a warning punch from Hashimoto. She winced and jumped back, her eyes widening as she saw the mini crater he had created. _Monster strength? Just like Tsunade-san?! Shit…!_

"Don't look away!" Hashimoto shouted excitedly, aiming bandaged knuckles straight for her chest. She jumped back, but coughed while grunting in shock; she had felt the force behind his punch, and her skin throbbed from a forming bruise.

 _I need to keep my distance_ , she thought. The Kazekage jumped back a few feet, making sure to keep her distance from the village and the missing-nin in front of her. She brought her fan around her, picking up air currents along the way as she charged up her chakra. " _Daikamaitachi no Jutsu_!"

Air currents collided as she swung her fan, creating sharp and powerful vacuum pockets that raced for Hashimoto. He ducked and spun out of the way, dark eyes widening as he watched Temari throw more than twenty shuriken up in the air. " _Fūton: Senkō Hanabi_!"

They were enveloped in wind, and were brought down on the medic repeatedly, a majority of them managing to hit him. It continued to hit him more than a few times, two being in his shoulder, five in his left arm and three in his thigh. Temari smirked, but it soon disappeared when he pulled the shuriken out, performing Shōsen Jutsu on his injured shoulder wound.

"Oh no you don't!" she shouted. She lifted her fan again, more chakra flowing and charging up. " _Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu_!" A single large blade of wind raced towards Hashimoto; it was big enough to slice through the sandy walls of Suna, even.

His eyes widened. He attempted to back away, but failed miserably. The jutsu sliced into his gut, blood flying out of the wound. He grunted as he fell back, rolling roughly around in the sand. He stopped right when he was on his back, a stream of blood dribbling down from the corner of his mouth joined by a small pool of forming blood.

Deidara snorted when he saw the scene. "Idiot," he murmured.

Temari slowly and cautiously made her way to him, a kunai in her free hand for precautions. She hit him with her fan, but gained no reaction. She heard an explosion, and a shout of painful dismay that sounded a lot like Gaara. Her eyes widened. She turned around, but instantly regretted it. A sharp pain shot through the middle of her shoulders, another following in her right upper leg and her entire rib cage. She fell, crying out in pain upon impact.

"All of your ribs are broken, you're poisoned, and your right femur is broken," Hashimoto's voice sounded. But there was no pain in _his_ voice—just an apathetic tone.

Slowly, the Rokudaime turned her head towards the Akatsuki member. Her eyes widened in shock. All of his wounds were gone, the only proof of them existing being the tears in his cloak and the smeared blood on his chin that originated from his mouth. The red diamond on his forehead was gone, and he sported a grin. "How…?" she managed.

"I'm a medic," he replied simply. "I have regenerative techniques, _lady_ , so if you thought I was dead then you were wrong in so many ways."

"Stop monologuing!" The voice's owner was Deidara. "We're finished here, hm! So act like it."

Hashimoto laughed—actually _laughed_. But it was bitter. He looked at Temari with a stoic expression. "Bye," he said.

He walked towards the other two, jumping up on the large owl that Deidara had made somewhere in the time during his fight. His right arm was crushed, and he was bruised. Jūgo had a gash over his chest and a stab in his arm along with minor bruises, but that was all. Soon, they took off, leaving behind a desperate Temari and a chaotic Sunagakure.

Deidara grinned wildly. "Success, hm."

* * *

Kirai was feeling disgusted. _Absolutely_ disgusted. He was looking over the reports sent in by all seven teams, all reporting their catch that had spread throughout the week. Nearly all of the jinchūriki were captured, Kushina being the only remaining one left. Most of the informants and medic ninjas died along with three frontline members.

Oto, Deidara, Orochimaru, Konan, Nagato and himself were the only remains of his division currently. Hashimoto, Saki, Kabuto and Yū were the only ones left of the medic division. Atama's division was practically nonexistent. Only Sasuke, Samui and Jūgo remained along with their leader.

Shukaku, Niibi and Sanbi were already absorbed—Yonbi was currently being extracted, and Gobi was in line.

He honestly didn't like it, and thus, his disgust. Soon he'd have to go after Kushina. Minato's _wife_ , Naruto's _mother_ , his _sister_ figure.

Kirai slapped his files closed, standing up from the desk. The remains of the frontline division, Atama, Yū, Sasuke and Hashimoto were down at the basement with the Gedō Mazō, said statue finishing claiming the Yonbi. He still had quite a few days left to plan his reluctant attack, but he didn't want to think about that shit.

So he did what he usually did.

He walked.

* * *

 _Eleven days later, Pain's office…_

* * *

"Why are you wet?" Pain asked.

Kirai looked at him. "I walked."

"For how long?"

"Eleven days," he stated bluntly. "I walked through the entire village for eleven days."

Pain simply blinked and scanned him before sighing. "Have you heard?"

"Yes. Sasuke, Saki and Samui left because of their spy status," the division leader replied. "How many did they kill?"

"Only Oto, Hashimoto, myself and you three division leaders remain," Pain informed him. "They killed Orochimaru, Jūgo, Konan, and Deidara, but by the end of the battle, they were pretty beat up." He closed his eyes. "It's your turn to capture the Kyūbi. Are you ready, Kirai?"

The masked man simply nodded.

"Good. You'll be going alone, we're short on members and we can't protect ourselves spread out," he said. "If you lose yourself to your DID, I don't care who you kill. Just keep the jinchūriki alive or else you'll suffer. We aren't losing so many members so quickly after only a month deep in the war just to wait for nine years. Am I understood?"

Kirai nodded stiffly. "Yessir," he mumbled out.

"Good. You are dismissed."

The pained Uchiha disappeared in a swirl of Kamui, teleporting all the way from Ame to the Hokage's monument in Konohagakure no Sato. He instantly suppressed his chakra signature, feeling sadness, anger, regret and seldom self-hate choke him as his throat tightened. He was on the spike of Minato's hair, his dual wielding tachi's on a belt with the swords at each side of his waist. He had a gunbai with him, but it wasn't Madara's this time. He had it custom made.

Reluctantly, he stretched his senses in a search for the Uzumaki. He felt multiple chakra signatures, a few of them he was familiar with. But Tsunade, Naruto, Kushina, Kakashi, Gai and even Minato weren't in the village. A Kage Bushin replaced Minato, and it was low on chakra. _Figures. Why did I even go here in the first place?_

 _To lure them by ripping out Konoha citizens' throats, possibly…?_

Kirai flinched, using Kamui again. He teleported to Turtle Island, a place where many jinchūriki had went to to attempt to control their bijū, and a place Atama told him a jinchūriki will very likely be hidden.

He landed on a hollow spike, looking around. He had landed on the entrance—his intended spot. Two Kumo shinobi were staring at him in shock, one scrambling up and stumbling away, only for his head to be ruthlessly teleported off. The other was frozen in shock; but he, too, easily died as Kirai stabbed his tachi into the mans heart.

He teleported the bodies away, putting leaves over the blood and silently hoping that no one would notice. His senses stretched again, and a sad smile spread across his face. Sure enough, he felt the chakra signatures he was looking for, along with quite a few others: Temari no Sabaku, Darui, A, Mei, Jiraiya, Kankuro and Ōnoki.

Kakashi, Gai and Naruto were with Kushina by a waterfall, and Minato, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the other seven newcomers were on the other side of the island, many chakra signatures in between.

Without a single movement, ten versions of him appeared in a pop of smoke. "Let him out," he ordered, "and fight the others, keep them occupied. _I_ will handle Kushina."

They all nodded, and disappeared in blurs of speed. He, too, took his leave, heading towards the four who were by the waterfall with conflict and reluctance.

It took him longer than expected, but he knew that he had to hurry. He was already in place himself, along with one other Kage Bushin hiding deeper in the shadows of the trees. The clones were engaging the Kage and company. One clone dispelled to relay information to him, and Minato had managed to escape his techniques. He had used Hiraishin right when the clone dispelled barely a second ago.

Kirai was hiding in the trees, and before he could even relay a second thought, Minato appeared next to Kakashi. He glanced at Kushina. "She has to hurry. Akatsuki is here."

Their eyes flew wide. Naruto spoke up, "Where are they?!"

"Kage Bushin's pursued us," Minato replied as he looked around, "so I'm assuming he's here…"

"Dammit, dattebane!" Kushina suddenly shouted. She growled in frustration, standing up and glaring at the waterfall. "Stupid hate."

"Kushina, Naruto, go inside with Gai," the oldest Namikaze ordered. " _Now_."

The red haired kunoichi frowned, but her son yanked her into the falls, the green clad jōnin following up from behind. As quickly as they disappeared, Kakashi and Minato pulled out their weapons. "We know you're there," Minato spoke, "so there's no use in hiding."

Kirai hesitated, pulling out a kunai of his own and swinging the loop on his right forefinger thoughtfully. His chakra was completely suppressed to the point of where only someone like Tobirama could sense him with his sensory jutsu, and his Mangekyō was spinning wildly.

 _Go on…_ he encouraged himself darkly, _…not much harm in saying "hello", right?_

At that thought, he jumped down from the high tree branch, kunai at his side as he stood at the edge of the clearing. He felt a sadistic grin twitch at his lips, but he fought it down. He wouldn't be naïve and say "give up and hand over the Kyūbi", because he _knew_ that they wouldn't. They wouldn't even consider it. _Especially_ Minato.

Suddenly, his hands started shaking, and before he could even process the movement, his world went black.

Minato and Kakashi, on the other hand, just saw the division leader standing there with shaking hands and signature Uchiha eyes. Eyes they recognized. Both of them felt downed, but they knew it. The logic Sasuke brought to them had made sense the moment they saw his eyes—his _Kamui_ _eye_ pattern.

The Edo Tensei'd division leader moved his arm, hunching over as he started laughing madly. He held his right wrist as the bitter laughter echoed, his fingers tightening in his clutch as madness clouded his eyes. Under half a minute later, it stopped rather abruptly, the obvious grin he wore making the look in his eyes worse. "Why the fuck are you even _trying_?!" he asked as if they were insulting him just by trying. "Ha! Haha, it'll be _way_ too fucking easy to cut you two down! A walk in the park, I tell ya'll little shits."

Kakashi stared at him, trying to look impassive and not doing a very good job at it. "You're Obito…" he started, "…right? So why are you doing this?" He paused for a moment before he looked years older than necessary, "…Unless…this is your _other_ self."

Kirai leaned forward, putting his right leg back and pointing his kunai at the two. He chuckled darkly, his eyes glinting evilly, "Well aren't you a smart one. _Obito_ , as he is right now, can barely hurt a fucking _rock_. He's too _broken_ , because he's so fucking soft. And the bastard who revived the three of us is gonna fucking choke on his own blood once I find him!"

Minato's eyes narrowed. Kirai instantly caught it. He had no reason to rush, and he was practically dead. _Fuck being stealthy_ , he thought, _might as well beat them down now, it just means freedom sooner rather than later._

"Do you know who revived you?" the Yondaime asked.

Kirai's eyes narrowed. "If I knew that, _I_ wouldn't even exist," he snarled, "and Akatsuki wouldn't exist, either. He could be _dead_ , for all we know! Could've been one of the many bastards who didn't survive. Hell he could be _Kakashi_. Or _Naruto_. Maybe even _Temari_! _Nobody_ knows right now, so don't question it."

Neither responded, Kakashi deep in thought and Minato with a high guard. Kirai grinned, and took the chance to charge them. In a blur of speed, he dropped the kunai and drew his tachi's, rushing forward with the butts of the hilts facing towards him. Minato was fast enough to dodge, but Kakashi was too deep in dismay. He blanched, stumbling in his stance. Kirai had the tachi's at the base of his throat before the Hatake could make another move, blades crossing like an X and ready to cut off the Hatake's head with a jerk of a hand like scissors.

Kirai moved his arms, drawing blood and making Kakashi's eye widen. But Minato teleported behind Kakashi, and teleported back to his original spot where his special three-pronged kunai was stabbed into the ground. Kakashi put a hand over his right neck base, swallowing thickly when he felt blood. "He's serious," he murmured. "He's _dead_ serious…"

"Now is _not_ the time to break down," Minato hissed, yanking his student up onto his feet. He glared. "Break down _later_ , when we break him from Edo Tensei."

Kakashi blinked dumbly, slowly nodding and pulling his headband off of his scarred Sharingan eye. He caught movement and instantly jumped to the side with Minato, just in time to dodge the chakra-enhanced swipe of a sword. Kirai turned his head towards him, ignoring the grass he uprooted from the simple swipe of his sword as he charged them. He swiftly moved his hands, the blades pointing down to his feet as he aimed for Kakashi again.

The Hatake moved this time, clumsily dodging the stab of the blade, dropping down onto the water next to his sensei. He closed his right eye, his Sharingan absorbing every movement much more smoothly. He swiftly dodged the stab to his neck, ducking under a roundhouse kick and jumping backwards when a punch was aimed for his chest. But he winced in surprise when his jōnin vest ripped from the sheer force left behind. His eye widened, as he completely forgot that the Uchiha had crazy good chakra control to use the chakra fist. _What._

He was too deep in shock—yet again another mistake he made. He felt a jarring pain in his right forearm, gritting his teeth together. It was unlike anything he felt before. He looked down to see one of the swords was lodged in his arm, the blade being inserted at his elbow. From there, the blade pierced the inside of his arm, all the way up to his shoulder. Kirai snickered darkly, his grin widening as his second blade aimed for his chest, but Minato's special kunai stopped the blade before it could reach the jōnin.

The Akatsuki member tilted his head, his Mangekyō spinning again. He suddenly became intangible, the blades going through the two shinobi along with his body. He quickly turned around, both tachi's aiming for the bases of their necks as he returned to being solid.

"Kushina, _now_!" Minato suddenly shouted.

Barely a nanosecond later, golden chains shot out of the water, six chains snaking around each of his legs and arms, two around his torso, one wrapping around his entire chest, snaking around his shoulder joints, and another around his entire neck—from the base up to his jaw.

Kirai's eyes narrowed, his Mangekyō still spinning. He was about to use Kamui again, but his Sharingan faded when all of his chakra was drained from him in a split second.

The mentally disordered division leader blanched, gritting his teeth together. Only three people had control over his seals: Kuro Zetsu, Shiro Zetsu and Atama. Kuro was sealed away, Atama takes battles seriously, and Shiro…Shiro was his most eligible suspect, considering he left the mutated human with Minato and Naruto. He sneered. _That sneaky bastard_ , he thought irritably.

The chains tightened around his body until he dropped his swords, said tachi's being collected by Minato as his being got dragged into the cave behind the waterfall. Minato and Kakashi followed, the latter clutching his arm painfully. Shiro Zetsu and Guruguru stood behind Naruto, Shiro completely serious for once in his life. Kushina and Gai were next to Naruto, both with a tense expression.

Kirai mentally cursed as he was chained to a headless jinchūriki statue, glaring at the others. He silently thanked himself for leaving a clone to witness the battle, as it most likely teleported away. The other nine clones dispersed from the lack of chakra. In his memories of the other battles, all of the shinobi were pretty beat up, and he leveled their battlefield quite nicely.

Silently, Minato reached to pull the mask off, but his hand was zapped by lightning. He winced, frowning at the burn his palm harbored as he pulled his arm away. "So you have protective seals. Are you the only one with them?" he asked.

Kirai blinked, staring with irritation. "How should I know?" he snapped. "All I know is that it can absorb chakra to prevent it from breaking."

"Why?"

"… _Why_?" Kirai echoed. His brow was twitching like crazy, and they had barely started talking. _Never mind about the fact that I'm a hostage. This bastard is all kinds of stupid_. "How the hell should I know?" He felt a grin twitch at his lips, "Why do the cats like to eat the mice in the first place?"

They all gave him weird looks.

Kirai didn't mind them, though. He glared again. " _Exactly_. Now, let me go before I rip someone's throat out."

Guruguru jumped on him, his legs wrapped around his waist and arms around his chest. He giggled. "Aw, Uchiha-chan! I missed you lots~!"

Kirai's finger twitched, his vision almost instantly darkening when the mutated human grabbed him. He blinked like crazy, hoping to get rid of the darkness that clouded his line of sight, but he was failing miserably. His eyes darted left and right, feeling panic rise. He didn't like it when he lost control; he savored the moments when he was moving and thinking and killing and interacting and just being his violent insane self.

"Wait, _what_ , dattebayo?! Why are you calling him that?! He's _not_ Obito-nii!"

"Yes, he is," Minato said sadly. "He's an Edo Tensei. I told you about that technique, remember?"

The dead silence that followed made Kirai's vision go completely black, and Obito reemerged. Guruguru pried himself off of the Uchiha, and went to go hug a wide-eyed Naruto.

He blinked in confusion. He had blacked out right before he fought his sensei and friend, so he didn't know what happened; but his memories from the Kage Bushin told him about the fight with the others. Apparently they lost all of their chakra.

 _I'm a hostage, so they stopped him_ , he concluded easily after he felt the tight clutches of the familiar golden chakra chains. _I'm guessing by the look on Naruto's face that he figured out something shocking._

"Obito-nii…" Naruto murmured.

The Uchiha didn't bother to look at the Uzumaki. He didn't really need to, and he felt guilty. He internally sighed, realization dawning on his mind. _Fucking aftermath…_

"Obito-nii," the blonde said more firmly.

"Yes, it's me," he snapped. "Happy?"

Despite their knowledge, they all stared in surprise, excluding Shiro and Guruguru. Minato looked at Naruto and Gai. "Can you two leave?"

The youngest Uzumaki opened his mouth to say something, but was sharply interrupted.

"That was an _order_."

Reluctantly, the two took their leave, stepping out of the waterfall. Kushina looked at Obito with wide blue eyes, her jaw clenched the moment they stepped out. "Why?" she asked shakily. "Why did you use that damn seal? Why did you die?"

The newly confirmed Uchiha Obito blinked. He wasn't sure who was listening in on their conversation. He didn't like it. The place wasn't secure enough, obviously, but he wore a mask that covered his jaw, and even if somebody with a Sharingan watched, they wouldn't be able to tell. The mask was clouded with chakra, so a Byakugan was out of the question as well. But then there was his reviver. He or she could be listening in on him through his own damn senses, and he wouldn't know.

" _Well_ , 'ttebane?!" Kushina snapped loudly, obviously anticipating his answer.

 _Why would it matter as to who is listening?_ he wondered to himself. He blinked again, though it was followed with an answer unlike last time. "Kuro Zetsu is evil all on his own," he replied simply. "His very presence could taint holy water. Hell, even demons such as the Kyūbi hesitate against him because of who he is. I don't know his true origins, only he does, but even if I knew I still wouldn't have hesitated. His existence alone forced me to choose: You or me. And I chose you guys over myself. Shiro, where is the clone?"

"Six feet under," he spoke up for the first time.

"And now he's gone into the afterlife as the Shinigami's little pet," Obito finished.

"We still could've killed him," Minato murmured.

"He can split his body up," the Uchiha pointed out. "And he can attach himself to others. That's why Kakashi was there: Kuro attached to him like the little parasite he was. Besides, I was already dying."

Kakashi blanched. "Why didn't you tell us?" he hissed.

"What would the point be?" Obito shot back. " _Seven full years_ , and even _sensei_ couldn't completely crack the seals formula. And besides, I was suffering from long term psychological trauma. Still am, but it's been taken to a whole new level, as you can see."

"We still could've helped you!" Kakashi shouted uncharacteristically.

"And let Kuro Zetsu find me?!" Obito shouted back. "Put Naruto in danger?! Have Kushina captured and let the Jūbi be revived?! C'mon Kakashi! You know better than that! Kuro Zetsu is a fucking devil! He'd kill an infant— _a child in the womb_ without second thoughts! Killing me and Naruto to get to the Kyūbi would make absolutely _no_ difference!"

Kushina winced, her hands balling into fists. The chains considerably tightened around Obito even further, causing him to grit his teeth and grunt painfully. "Stop it. _Both_ of you," she seethed. "Don't fight."

Obito flinched, he felt the chains tighten even more barely a second later, making his vision darken. He, despite not being an actual live human being, still possessed a poor bastard who was still alive.

Minato frowned when he noticed the flinch. "Kushina, calm down…you're hurting Obito more than necessary," he said quietly.

She turned her head towards him, her face tense when she noticed that she was, indeed, crushing him. She loosened the grip of the chains, giving him an apologetic look. "Sorry…sometimes the chains and my emotions click together," she said.

He simply grunted.

Shiro's eyes widened suddenly. He and Tobi moved back, Obito wincing a third time. The original Zetsu clone looked at the trio in front of Obito. "Move out of the way!" he shouted.

The three looked at him, but quickly moved out of the way when an oversized blue fist came crashing down on the waterfall, destroying the statues to the right of the entrance and crushing the entrance. The fist grabbed a statue, throwing it at Kushina, Minato and Kakashi.

The three dodged easily, Minato's eyes widening when he realized what was going on. He moved; he used Hiraishin to teleport back toward Obito, grabbing the marked Uchiha and teleporting away with chains and all. The Uchiha suddenly gasped, coughing and slumping over when they landed.

Kakashi was the first to panic. "Obito!" He rushed to the Uchiha's side, obviously on the verge of hyperventilation from said panic.

"Hn, he failed miserably," a deep voice said. "Moron."

A blue sword jabbed at the conscious three, splitting them up. Kakashi and Obito were by the entrance of the room towards the back, and Minato and Kushina were pushed off to the side with statues. The sword swung towards the Hatake, the side of the Susano'o's weapon hitting him. It tossed him aside, his head hitting concrete and making him black out by the edge of the clearing.

Obito grimaced underneath his mask, feeling Kushina's chains tighten dramatically and press him against the ground with ridiculous force.

Yū jumped down from the arm, eyes narrowed as he noticed the golden chains. _Chakra chains_ , he thought. _And strong ones, at that. I know Atama can break through them with Susano'o, but I'd rather not waste time waiting for the brat to regenerate…_

Atama's Susano'o swung its sword towards the other two conscious living shinobi, who easily dodged. The weapon crashed into the statues and cave wall, making it crack and shake. Yū's eyes widened. The ceiling couldn't take the weight of water with such a large crack in it.

A yellow flash out of the corner of his eye made him look towards where the other two Konoha shinobi were at. They reappeared next to the knocked out Hatake, and then they were gone. But the Yondaime came back, reappearing next to Obito and Yū. He raised his three-pronged kunai, eyes solid. "Who is your reviver?" he asked with a steely voice.

Yū sighed, crouching and hunching over Obito, a kunai of his own in hand with an "are you stupid" glare to back him up. "Child, if I knew who it was, I would be gladly tearing him apart and drinking his blood," he said.

Minato blinked, completely oblivious to the crumbling ceiling for a moment. His eyes narrowed. "You're coming with me," he said.

Yū only had a moment to process what the younger Hokage said before he disappeared from the cave with the blonde and Uchiha.

* * *

 **"Fūton: Tatsu no Ōshigoto": "Wind Release [Style]: Great Task of the Dragon"**

 **"Daikamaitchi no Jutsu": "Great Sickle Weasel Technique"**

 **"Fūton: Senkō Hanabi": "Wind Release [Style]: Flashing Fireworks"**

 **"Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu": "Wind Release [Style]: Wind Blades Technique"**

 **"Shōsen Jutsu": "Mystical Palm Technique"**

 **"Kage Bushin [no Jutsu]": "Shadow Clone [Technique]"**

 **One of the longer chapters I've written :D yay!**

 **Hehe. ^_^**

 **Preview:**

Naruto was pale with worry, staring into the indoor pond sitting at the shore along with Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu. The place was built in all five rendezvous places at the requests of both Tsunade and Sakura, because it would bring a peace of mind to the stressed and injured ninja. He liked it.

It was also close by the place where Obito and Yū were held temporarily captive.

He sighed, slumping forward. But his somber mode was replaced with alarm as he heard a loud and extremely pained scream. His head shot up, eyes wide with worry, because the scream sounded exactly like Obito.

 **Peace! :3**


	12. Bloody Seals

**TammyHybrid21: Just an idea, really. I mean, I'm getting kind of tired of people aspiring to become Hokage Raikage Mizukage Kazekage Tsuchikage or whatever. Naruto wanted it, everybody else pitched in, and then Sarada wanted to become Hokage…yeah, you get my point. But Kakashi was suicidal for only three years, whereas he was suicidal for a good…number…of years after Obito's first death.**

 **Yup. Walking. Fun :D You probably were missing something, but hey, it was really subtle. My retarded ass thought "Oh, they'll notice!" Lololol. I'm so funny. TSoPG won't be updated until this story is finished. Sorry :/ Thanks for your review :3**

 **Dandelion-san: Lol, it seems like Tammy is the only person who seems to get it that reviewed. Sakura didn't really hate anybody, and if she did, it wasn't deep or genuine enough. Young-Kakashi had self-hate, whereas older-Kakashi didn't…Sasuke is a whole other story; lots and lots of hate there. Wonder what happened there, but what do I know? It's just a _theory_ …**

 **And Madara being irritated by the fact that he's the controlled doesn't exactly bother him, because he can release himself. But I guess you could say it annoyed him to some consent. The Akatsuki's goal was always the same—fulfill "The Eye of the Moon Project". It was just introduced and approached completely different. As for their reviver…well, plot twist, I guess. Though it ain't _that_ big to me…but that's just my antics. My typical idea of a plot twist is this: "OMFG, is Kakashi seRIOUSLY NARUTO'S BLOOD FATHER?! OH MY FUCK!" Thanks for your review :3**

 **Recommended songs: Touch The Sun by Instrumental Core and The Angels Among Demons (also) by Instrumental Core.**

 **Original chapter word count: 4.2k~**

 **Enjoy my glacial chapter :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 11: Bloody Seals_

* * *

Annoyance was nothing new to Atama. He experienced it enough to learn to control it, keep it suppressed. When Kirai came to them, asking them to break him out of the Kage's imprisonment, they agreed. Yū had given the youngest Edo Tensei enough chakra to have him teleport them to Turtle Island.

Atama sighed, crossing his arms. "That idiot," he murmured as he walked down the path. "Getting captured…"

"Well, you know who he is," Yū stated. "Even if it was his MPD that got him in trouble, you forget that he still cares, even if he is a little messed up."

The gas masked Uchiha snorted. "Like I care," he snapped. "Let's just get this over with."

Yū sighed, and they jumped up into the trees towards where they figured the jinchūriki would be at—the waterfall the island was famous for. They reached it, landing in a tree just in time to see a blonde boy and a jōnin with a bowl cut walked off to a trail. The Hannya masked division leader looked at his associate. "What's the plan?"

"I barge in with Susano'o like a badass, and you get your idiotic ass in there and save Kirai's sorry ass."

Yū blinked, a smile twitching on his lips. It was etched with amusement, but it disappeared. He sighed. "That'll attract attention."

"They're already aware of Kirai," Atama pointed out. "It wouldn't make a difference, because there'd be witnesses. We have to hurry, too, because the others are coming, and I don't want to get caught up in a fight to the death."

"But it wouldn't be a fight to the d—"

"Shut up," he snapped. Yū paused. A cloud of depression covered his head, and he his posture lacked elegance as he slumped over with a depressed groan. The Uchiha sighed. "Stop sulking. Let's go."

Without waiting for another word to be spoken, Atama jumped down from the branch, a half body Susano'o with a weapon and armor appearing in front of the waterfall. It raised its fist as fast as it landed, and smashed the waterfall. Yū sighed, and jumped down, climbing up the back and crouching down on the Susano'o's shoulder. He felt the arm move and throw something, the second right arm swinging its sword somewhere.

He felt chakra flare, and decided that it was his turn. He stood up, running down one arm and emerging from the waterfall. He saw Kirai wrapped up in golden chakra chains, a silver haired Konoha ninja by the left walls, and the Yondaime with an Uzumaki by the sword. He landed next to Kirai, eyes narrowing. The ceiling was cracking, grit was falling, and water was dripping from the crack.

A flash from the corner of his eye made him look at the silver haired man, but he was gone within a second along with the blonde Yondaime. Yū looked at Atama, who was obviously sulking about something. Probably missing a chance to kill, but nobody needed to know that.

Suddenly, the Yondaime appeared again. He looked down at Yū, a tree-pronged kunai in his hand. The Hannya masked man crouched down, hunching over Kirai with a kunai of his own. The blonde's eyes narrowed. "Who is your reviver?" he questioned.

Yū stared up at him, giving him his "are you stupid" look. "Child, if I knew who it was, I'd be gladly tearing him apart and drinking his blood," he stated.

Minato blinked, leaning forward and making contact with Yū and Kirai. "You're coming with me."

The division leader barely had a second to process what the Yondaime said before his world turned black. Then he saw walls. He blinked dumbly, nausea hitting him. He groaned, falling forwards in a face plant. "Stupid Hiraishin…" he groaned. _Why did Tobirama create it again?_

"Get up." He felt a foot kick his side.

 _…Right. To "get away faster" and to "scare the shit out of everybody"…_ He remembered it quite clearly.

"Hey! I _said_ get up!"

Yū huffed, and got up, sitting with crossed legs next to Kirai rather protectively. He saw the Gokage, and some other brats he didn't recognize, though he spotted the two blondes, the Uzumaki, the silver haired man and an older version of Tsunade healing up the silver haired man. He tipped his head in curiosity. " _Lots_ of people," he murmured.

The light blonde haired woman glared at him. "Where's Gaara? Where's my brother?" she demanded. She had a crutch under her right arm, and a menacing glare.

He frowned. "All of the jinchūriki are dead," he said somberly. "Well, except for the Kyūbi's jinchūriki…but they all die the moment their bijū are extracted."

Silence dawned and choked the group, A's eyes flying wide. Kankuro looked like he was about to blackout and Temari was frozen. Yū felt killing intent flooding from Kushina, hearing chains gently clicking. He turned his head towards Kirai, blinking in slight surprise when he saw Kirai's eyes staring at him. The latter looked away, closing his eyes, but his hands were starting to shake, albeit it was nearly unnoticeable.

But Yū knew what that meant—he had spent a full seven years with the man.

Typically when his hands shook, Kirai was about to take over, but that other half of Obito never came out unless his emotions were riled up in times other than when the seals were activated. Another reason was because he was scared.

The division leader shifted so then he was sitting next to the chained down Uchiha's side, pulling up the Akatsuki cloak sleeve—that he hated—to reveal the cuff. All three seals were glowing. He blinked before glaring at the cuff. _Dear gods, Madara…_

"What're you doing?" an elderly voice asked.

Yū turned his head towards Ōnoki, blinking when he saw the resemblance. He grinned. "Ah! I know you. You're the Tsuchikage's grandson, no? Ōinu, was it? Ōgimi…? Oni…?"

The Sandaime glowered. "It's _Ōnoki_ ," he snapped. His eyes narrowed. "Don't avoid my question. What are you doing?"

The medical division leader turned his head towards the seals again. "Despite us Edo Tensei's being dead," he started, "we still feel, y'know? Both physically and mentally. See these seals here?"

Minato's eyes widened.

"Yeah. You get the point," he said.

The Namikaze glanced at the other Kage. "Can everyone but Kushina leave?"

Mei looked at him. "Might I ask why?"

"The seals will make him unpredictable," Minato stated, "and I'm going to deactivate them, which will take up room."

"I can't move Kakashi like this," Tsunade snapped absently.

"You can stay. You have an excuse," the Namikaze said. He looked at everyone else with a begging expression. "Please?"

A looked reluctant. "Fine," he replied. "But if anything fishy happens in here, then we won't hesitate to put them down."

Minato simply nodded, and everybody took their leave from the room that was part of the base on the border between Suna and Konoha. They made it as a Shinobi Alliance rendezvous meeting point; it was decently large, and had many rooms and training areas. It was well hidden, seeing as no Akatsuki dared to walk even ten miles of the rendezvous point.

Naruto looked like he was going to object, but was shut up when Guruguru gently punched his arm. He followed the group, closing and locking the door behind them before looking at Obito.

Kushina snapped out of her anger, deciding then to notice her surroundings. "Where did everyone go?" she asked dumbly.

"They left." Minato looked at Obito. "I'm breaking the seals," he announced, "or at least _try_ to. I'll need your help in restraining him, Kushina."

Her eyes widened slightly. She was a seal master herself, albeit she excelled in soul, barrier and restraining seals, whereas Minato excelled in time-space and human seals. Soul and humans seals were looked down upon, though, so other seal masters they ran into—whence they learned their profession—they looked down on them. But it was for war; nobody could really argue there.

And while the jinchūriki Uzumaki didn't master human seals, she understood them to some consent. She knew that they hurt when applied, and that they hurt even more when removed— _especially_ if they're enhanced. The body was never meant to feel the stress of the seals on a constant scale albeit small and unnoticeable until later. So when removed, the physical and mental stress is ripped off abruptly. Nobody knows what happens after, but nobody tried because the seals killed the victims.

Yū slightly turned his head towards the Uchiha, whose hands were still shaking. It was a bit more noticeable, though. He frowned. "You're rushing a bit quickly," he pointed out, not moving from his spot nor did he look at the Namikaze as the blonde walked over to Obito's other side. "You…you have time. Just take a minute, think it through."

Minato stared at him, but the chocolate brown haired Akatsuki division leader didn't make any movement. The blonde sat down, Kushina joining his side on her knees. She held sympathy in her eyes, and her face was grim.

 _Probably scared of Kirai_ , Yū thought. He blinked. _They should be._

"Is he awake?" Minato asked.

"Has been since Uzumaki-san released her killing intent," he replied. "But his senses and mind are on the verge of unconsciousness, so he isn't aware of anything right now. But he can still physically feel."

The Namikaze looked like he was stuck in an emotional conflict then. He sighed heavily, and the he looked like his resolution was set in stone. Yū tipped his head in curiosity, though he felt worry for Obito—he had gotten attached to both him and Kirai over the years. Minato looked at him. "You're Hashirama, right?"

"Yes," the man replied.

"…And I'm assuming Atama is Uchiha Madara."

"Correct."

The Yondaime simply nodded and looked at Kushina. "Keep the chains tight. And I mean it."

Kushina nodded zealously, though worry made it clouded and little. Minato created a Kage Bushin, said clone making its way around Obito, pushing Hashirama aside. It got into a comfortable position, and lifted the Uchiha's arm so he could do a three-sixty examination. It looked at its original, and nodded, gently putting the rather limp and chain arm in its spot on the ground.

The reigning Hokage pulled out a sharp object that resembled his three-pronged kunai, only the two side blades didn't curve—they stuck out straight. The blade itself was silver, and a cloth was the barrier between hands and metal.

"Ready?" Minato asked Kushina.

She nodded again, her eyes hardening and becoming focused. Hashirama was vaguely reminded of Mito.

The blonde gripped Obito's shaking hand, the silver blade nearing the cuff. Small black fūinjutsu kanji appeared, spreading itself all the way up to Minato's shoulder, faintly glowing as he channelled a precise amount of chakra. Obito's arm jerked, but was instantly stilled by Kushina as she tightened her hold. The chakra streamed into the kanji that covered the special silver kunai, and the blonde swiftly cut through the Shinrisensō Fūin.

Obito's grip tightened as he screamed bloody murder, Kushina's fist balling. She looked away, but kept a tight hold on him, preventing his back from arching and from his arms and legs moving too much. Minato sliced into the metal again, the fūinjutsu kanji interrupting the Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin. The Uchiha's scream intensified.

He never took a breath, and it made Kushina cringe.

Both Minato's looked grim as well. Part of it was because the grip, but the other part was because of the scream. Never mind the length of the scream, he wanted to stop. He swallowed his doubts, though, and shifted Obito's hand around enough to see the Kyōka Fūin and Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku. He sliced through both, and the Edo Tensei's pained screams skyrocketed. Kushina winced, her hands groping the air repeatedly to keep herself in control.

A few seconds later, the screams died down to nothing. Minato's scrunched up expression of concentration disappeared, replaced with a sympathetic look as he looked at Obito. The death grip on his hand released, but it stayed firm, albeit the hand was still shaking.

Minato gave the kunai to his doppelgänger, looking at Kushina again with a questioning look. She got the silent question, and nodded. Hashirama eyed the process as the fūinjutsu kanji went all the way up to his shoulders, pupils dilating as he watched.

The blonde Yondaime sliced through the metal and fūinjutsu once again, and the screams restarted.

* * *

Naruto was in distress. That much was obvious to everyone as they left. The group knew him well enough to know when he was stressed out, and it only happened when something real bad was happening or was to happen. The group kept silent though; they didn't even bother to say a word of farewell as he quietly walked down the hallway towards the indoor lake.

Said lake was built for those who needed a peace of mind, requested by Tsunade and Sakura as medics and fellow ninja.

It worked; it was a nice little add on, nobody thought of it as a hindrance.

Guruguru was calmly humming, Shiro Zetsu a stride or two ahead of them. They eventually reached the indoor pond, with the Uzumaki making his way to the shore. He sat down on the sand, and started sulking.

Guruguru looked down at the blonde. "Why're you so down?" he asked. He knew the reason, but he also knew that it was best if said out loud. Shiro suddenly stopped walking, however, and sunk into the ground; neither of them questioned it, though.

"…I'm just…surprised," Naruto glowered. "Obito-nii can't seem to take a break even after death…"

"Yeah, the world ain't fair," Guruguru agreed. "But he did leave behind a lot of unfinished stuff. Like…Kakashi, for example; he was suicidal for about three years because he blames himself. Still does. There's you, the Jūbi, Kushina, Minato…and so forth."

"What does he have to do with the Jūbi?" Naruto grumbled.

"Ah, he was the original catalyst for the plan," he explained. "He was supposed to kill your parents when you were born. Did you know that?"

The blonde's eyes widened slightly. He glanced at the mutated human, surprise marring his expression. "No."

"Ah, well, instead of killing Minato and Kushina, he took you and hid with the arrangement of returning and or letting you visit Konoha when you were seven," he stated. "It was ultimately your choice, but that didn't happen, so…"

Naruto sighed and slumped over, being reminded of Obito's death. He honestly just wanted to spend a few moments with the Uchiha—or at least _talk_ , catch up, brag about the many forms of Rasengan he has formed and combined with the gunbai he was given. He started sulking once again, but it was ephemeral. His depression was replaced with alarm as he heard a long and loud, pained scream that sounded a lot like Obito. He glanced at Guruguru, who showed no acknowledgement of the screaming.

"Don't be alarmed," the mutated creature said. "Minato-chan is just removing the seals."

Naruto frowned, alarm still etched into his features. "But it shouldn't be _that_ painful, dattebayo!"

"Not if they're human seals," Guruguru pointed out. "They're painful when applied and used, but it's a constant pain when they're removed. The worst part is your body won't go numb from said pain."

The screaming stopped, but only for a few seconds. They started again, and made Naruto flinch.

"Why do you think human seals is an S-classed branch of fūinjutsu?"

The Uzumaki didn't reply. He just brought his legs to his chest, his chin resting on his knees. The screaming didn't stop for another two minutes before they were completely silenced, leaving a heavy and confused atmosphere.

But it didn't stay silent for very long. Right when an unfamiliar chakra signature flared, Guruguru's body opened up and wrapped around Naruto in a split second. The blonde made a sound of surprise as he felt himself jump back into the hallway, the ceiling collapsing in on itself and filling the indoor lake with rubble. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a large blue and armored arm leading all the way up to the sky, a large blue creature with a pointy nose and bright red eyes looming over the sun and blocking it.

"What is that…?" Naruto asked in shock.

 _"Madara's full body Susano'o,"_ Guruguru murmured. He never actually saw it, but he has heard of it. It was a godly being in his opinion, something even the Kage will likely have trouble dealing with. Worst part was, the man wasn't at his prime. _"We have to get out of here. The full body Susano'o is a force even the Gokage will have difficulty defeating."_

Naruto was too deep in dismay to reply, Guruguru moving further into the hallway as one of the arms attached to the Susano'o's shoulders smashed the sword it held onto the hallway. It forced the duo all the way back to the end of the hall, where three of the five Kage were. They looked at Naruto with a weird look, making the blonde stare back in confusion. Then he remembered that they didn't know that Guruguru was hollow.

It was all shrugged off when a wave of scorching hot fire approached them rapidly. Guruguru was the quickest to react, his arms instantly coming up in the snake hand seal. Wood broke through the ground, weaving and creating a thick barrier that blocked the fire. It was released, Guruguru jumping forward.

Naruto's eyes widened as the rest of the mutated human's body wrapped around his head, leaving only his right blue eye open to the world. "What the hell are you doing?"

 _"Saving everybody's asses,"_ Guruguru replied. _"If Madara is here, Pain, Oto or Hashimoto might be as well. If one more man arrives, then we're all done for."_

The Namikaze stayed silent, watching as Guruguru ran up the Susano'o's arms.

 _"Now back me up here,"_ he said. _"You're the closest thing to a male Tsunade we've got right now."_

Naruto sighed, but reluctantly participated. Guruguru pulled back his right fist slightly.

 _"Put_ all _of your chakra into it,"_ the creature said, _"and I'll put in a portion of my own. We need to at least crack it."_

"You're impossible," Naruto snapped. But he streamed all of his chakra into his general arm. Over the years when Naruto was in Yamamoto no Sato, Obito had watched Sakura and him spar. The Uchiha used her chakra fist, teaching it to Naruto for chakra control. Eventually Sakura and Tsunade honed his skills, and soon he became a medic. But he only knew Saisei Nōryoku, Shōsen Jutsu and was on his path to learning Sōzō Saisei. However, he was also a ninjutsu and fūinjutsu specialist in-training. His kenjutsu and taijutsu were average, both thanks to Obito.

As they neared the head, a sword hilt came from above. Guruguru sped up, easily dodging the hilt and reaching the collar bone. Naruto felt the mutated human charge up chakra in his calves, leaping up onto the Susano'o's nose. Guruguru raised his fist, Naruto charging chakra up to the maximum along with the mutated human. Madara stayed in his spot, eyes glowing behind the tinted goggles of the gas mask he wore.

The Uzumaki's lips curved into a grin; the Uchiha was _cocky_.

With a shout of effort, he felt his muscles flex and get coated with Guruguru's only portion of chakra. Their knuckles hit the diamond, chakra backing up the punch. Guruguru's chakra pumped again, adding more force. Madara's eyes widened as the Susano'o cracked, the face of the humanoid being covered in Mokuton that originated from Guruguru and Naruto's arm. The grip tightened and cracked the head even further. The Uchiha drew a sword, cutting through Tobi's shell and into Naruto flesh over their collarbones, but the wound was healed up quickly.

The Mokuton retracted, the two jumping back down to the ground and hiding in the trees. Guruguru pulled himself off of Naruto, letting the chakra-drained teen out onto the branch. Said blonde kneeled down, panting and catching his breath. "That was crazy stupid 'ttebayo…" he panted, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, at least we aren't dead," Guruguru pointed out.

"…How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That thing with the Wood Release. How'd you do that?"

"Whenever I…uh, ' _wear_ ' somebody who has the Mokuton like Yamato or you, it's enhanced," he explained. "We're lucky. He got cocky and thought he could withstand the punch." His head tipped up, watching as A, Ōnoki, Mei, Tsunade and Jiraiya started assaulting the off-balanced armored humanoid.

Naruto looked up, about to say something, but was cut off as Minato teleported behind them, landing in the room where Obito, Hashirama, an unconscious Kakashi and Kushina were at. The instant they landed, Kushina shot up, eyes wide with worry.

She rushed up to her son, examining him. "What the hell were you thinking? Why'd you do that? You aren't hurt, are you? You look exhausted dattebane! You could've been _killed_!"

Naruto blinked, his face pale with exhaustion and slight embarrassment. "I'm fine…" he mumbled, "and clearly, I'm not dead 'ttebayo."

Regardless, Kushina brought him into a bone-crushing hug, obviously refusing to let go. "I _know_! But still! It was a possibility!"

" _Was_ ," Naruto pointed out in a matter-of-factly tone.

Minato sighed. "Well, they gave us an advantage, so we should be thankful," he stated.

"Uzumaki-san," Hashirama suddenly said.

They turned their heads towards the Senju, who had turned his head towards them. Kushina blinked. "Yes?"

He waved his head, gesturing them to come over towards him. "Come here," he said. "All three of you, I guess. Doesn't matter."

The trio made their way towards them, Naruto rushing towards Obito's side. He sat on his knees, scanning the golden chakra chains. He blinked and looked up at his mother. "Why's he still restrained?" he asked.

"Precautions," Hashirama replied for her. He tipped his head, lifting his left knee to reveal a chain wrapped tightly around his right ankle from his criss-crossed position. "You forget that we're still the enemy."

Naruto simply frowned.

Kushina looked at Hashirama. "What do you need?" she asked, promptly ignoring the building as it shook violently.

The Senju blinked. "Obito has to tell you something real quick," he said, glancing at the Uchiha.

Kushina nodded, sitting next to his head on her knees. She looked at him with a soft expression as he turned his head towards her. He looked at her. Despite him being dead, he looked absolutely exhausted, which confused her. "You were trying to control your hatred, no?" he asked softly.

She nodded again. "Yes. I was," she replied. "Why? Do you know how to defeat it?"

He chuckled quietly, closing his eyes and turning his face up to the ceiling. "Defeating hatred is impossible," he murmured.

She frowned. "Then why was Shinjitsu no Taki created in the first place?"

"It was never made for defeating," he simply said.

Before any of the three could question it, Hashirama leaped forward, using Mokuton: Sashiki no Jutsu. He disregarded the chain on his ankle, a spike emerging from each wrist. They both reached the Uzumaki's, impaling them both in the guts. The technique branched out in both of their bodies.

Kushina gagged on air and blood as the branches mostly stuck out of her back, only one barely missing her rib cage. Naruto, on the other hand, had a branch sticking out of his left shoulder and two sticking out from his chest; one of the branches sticking out of his chest was dangerously close to his heart. He coughed up blood, wheezing for air. He collapsed, his face paler than before as a pool of blood started forming under him.

Minato was too caught up in his dismay and horror to notice the chains weakening greatly, allowing Hashirama more movement. The Senju lunged forward again, a third branch of Sashiki no Jutsu spiking out of the base of his right wrist. He hit the blonde on the shoulder, the branches ripping through bone and flesh. Minato grunted painfully, reaching out a hand and sneaking a mark onto the division leader.

The healer jumped back, letting the Yondaime fall to the ground. Obito hadn't moved an inch, though, despite the chains cracking here and there. The Senju easily broke the chains with a clench of his fist, picking up the Uchiha bridal style without really caring.

New orders had came in barely ten minutes ago: _"Retreat."_

Hashirama's eyes narrowed as he rushed out of the room, leaping up the charred walls and hoping onto the humanoid version of Madara's Susano'o. The face was no longer cracked, but Madara still had a sulky air around him despite the orders. Hashirama stayed in his spot on the Susano'o's head, noting how beaten the other shinobi looked. He blinked apathetically.

"Are we not taking the Kyūbi's jinchūriki?" Madara asked.

 _"Leave the medium,"_ the voice of their reviver echoed in their head. _"We shall fight for her in the final battle. None of you have yet to be properly prepared."_

The trio Edo Tensei's narrowed their eyes. They recognized that voice, and all three of them knew who the owner was.

 _"For now, pull back and come to the fire base,"_ he ordered, _"but don't leave tracks behind. Go by foot."_

Madara rolled his eyes, the humanoid jumping away from the scene. After a few large leaps, it dissipated, Hashirama and Madara landing smoothly and heading towards the base they were ordered to go to.

* * *

 **"Saisei Nōryoku": "Regeneration Ability"**

 **"Mokuton": "Wood Release"**

 **"Mokuton: Sashiki no Jutsu": "Wood Release [Style]: Cutting Technique"**

 **Ugh. Why thE FUCK AM I MAKING THIS STORY SLOWER THAN EXPECTED? *pouts***

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **So, I'm interested as to who the reviver is.**

 **Beats me. 'The fuck do I know? Haha.**

 **Preview:**

Kakashi's eyes widened dramatically. He watched in pure horror as Madara's Kanseitai – Susano'o was joined by Obito's turquoise Kanseitai – Susano'o, and Hashirama's Mokuton: Shin Sūsenju.

He stared in dismay. How the fuck were they supposed to win with two perfect Susano'o's and an all powerful wooden statue with all five basic natures as their enemy?

 **Peace! :3**


	13. Perfection Is Corruption

**Dandelion-san: Lol. I'm laughing so hard right now, because the reviver is literally right under everybody's noses XD Thanks for your review :3**

 **TammyHybrid21: Bwahahahaha! *Has dumb moment* uhhhh…who contact what? Anyways, yeah. Madara be mean 'n' shit. Lol, well, I don't want this story to be completely bitter and serious. I'd love to see a sprinkle of humor in an angst story at some point. I mean, yeah, Hashirama being protective towards Obito seems eligible for me. He seems like the protective type, if you look past all the battles.**

 **Little to nobody was aware of the original plan; only Madara, Guruguru, Kuro Zetsu, Shiro Zetsu, Obito and Hashimoto were aware. Indeed ^3^ it's a pretty damn deep saying, no? Obito was never really conscious, he was just stuck in between consciousness and unconsciousness. Lol, thanks for your review :3**

 **Recommended songs: Colorblind by Panda Eyes and Become A Legend by Instrumental Core.**

 **Original word count: 4.9k~**

 **Enjoy my ethereal chapter (yes I've run out of adjectives to use to describe my bullshit) :3**

* * *

 _Chapter 12: Perfection Is Corruption_

* * *

Hashirama and Madara made it to the fire base within the hour. Obito was still out of it for reasons unknown, his eyelids halfway open with an exhausted, limp body. He hadn't moved at all since they left.

They landed in a clearing, Madara heading to the closest tree and touching the bark with glowing chakra fingers. He tapped his fingers against the bark three times before the clearing disappearing in waves, an entrance appearing right in the middle of the grass. They stepped down into the underground Hi no Kuni base, the doors closing behind them. Hashimoto sat in a chair, gauze wrapped fingers tapping against a meeting table.

"…You're our reviver, correct?" Hashirama asked.

The medic-nin smiled in amusement. "No. I'm your _commander_. And I'm the one who negotiated with your reviver with the promise of a Rinnegan—which he'll get. I mean, I already getting what I want."

Madara tipped his head slightly. "And that is?"

"Completing Tsuki no Me Keikaku," Hashimoto said, standing up with a grin. Obito visibly flinched. "Oto and Nagato are dead, and I've awakened another pair of Rinnegan just for you three lovelies."

Obito turned his head towards the medic, Sharingan eyes spinning to emphasize his death glare. They were clouded with exhaustion and pain. "And why would we need a pair of real eyes?" he questioned with a quiet, cracking voice.

"Ah, the man who revived you wants one of you to come back to life. I don't know who it is, he never specified," Hashimoto replied. He walked towards the three. "I am to revive all three of you using the Rinnegan, and when I die, one of you have to take the Rinnegan."

Hashirama and Madara stiffened, Obito's head rolling back into Hashirama's chest as his hands started shaking unconditionally. The Senju's lips pressed together in a thin line, "Why all three of us?"

"Because reasons," Hashimoto shot back. His dark eyes narrowed. "I don't actually know them, but your reviver is an unknown who I came into brief contact once and struck a deal with."

Madara cocked his head a little. "And you don't care about whether or not you're going to live to see if he completes his end of the deal?"

"He already did," Hashimoto stated. "The deal was this: He revives you three, hands all three over to Akatsuki with talismans for me, and then I bring you guys back to life after the Hachibi is taken into the statue."

"Kind of cheap, don't'cha think?" Hashirama asked. "After you die, he could betray you…"

The last surviving breathing Akatsuki member shook his head, eyeing Obito and Madara briefly. He smiled. "No, no. I'll be successful. Trust me on that, Hashirama, Mugen Tsukuyomi _will_ be cast."

Obito's finger twitched, his body tensing up. Underneath his mask, his face was scrunched up and his jaw was clenched. Hashirama looked down at the Uchiha before he looked up at Hashimoto. The brunette simply walked up to the duo, fingers brushing against Obito's sleeve and pushing it up all the way to his shoulder to reveal chain-shaped bruises all around his arm, extending up past the Uchiha's shoulder and further.

Hashimoto looked at his cuffs and frowned slightly. "I can understand him being mentally drained to the point of barely being able to move a limb after the seals get destroyed," he started, "but I don't understand these… _bruises_. Where did he get them from?"

"He was covered in head to toe with Uzumaki chakra chains," Hashirama stated. "I mean, I was touched by the chains. But I didn't gain a bruise or anything as far as I'm concerned." He scanned Obito's arm, a sympathetic and dark look stretching across his face. "These bruises are ridiculously deep…"

Hashimoto nodded, his hand glowing green as he started scanning the Uchiha's body. His frown deepened even further, before his eyes widened in realization. His jaw slackened more than a little bit, but it was quickly snapped closed. He looked up at Hashirama and Madara, lines on his face showing up as he looked stressed. "His healing process will be abnormal," the man said. "He's gonna have to heal naturally. The Edo Tensei isn't doing its job…"

Madara frowned. "Why? Was there something in the chains?"

Hashimoto shook his head, his black eyes distant with dismay. "No, it has nothing to do with the chains." He paused for a brief second before looking at the three, "Slight change of plans. Originally we were gonna move out and attack all five nations within the next three weeks."

"And the change is…?" Hashirama drawled.

"Weeks have been changed to days," he stated, "and Obito will be delayed by two weeks. Three at most."

The Senju frowned. "But—"

"Don't question it," the brunette snapped impatiently. Something akin to fear flashed in his eyes before he abruptly turned away, walking around the meeting table and into the hallway. "Get ready! _Now_!"

The enmity and frustration in his voice didn't go unheard.

* * *

Tsunade was no stranger to doing multiple surgeries in a row. She was a pro at it, matter of fact. Learning Kage Bushin no Jutsu from Naruto just duplicated it; she was practically a god at doing multi surgeries now, and working with herself was something she was always best at.

She had one Kage Bushin on Kushina and Minato, whose wounds weren't severe, but bad enough to not be ignored. Their progress was on schedule. Naruto, on the other hand, had a bad wound and two Kage Bushin on him along with the original. It wasn't like a poisoned slash, or a hole in the flesh. It was all internal wounds. Where a stake stuck out, internal bleeding was occurring. In all, there were five, and judging from the amount of crimson liquid underneath him, she'd roughly say he lost five pints of blood already.

The stakes sticking out were hacked off, and the young blonde was numbed by anesthetics enough to not have the reaction of screaming in pain, just a wince or a grunt of pain.

She had managed to get out two out of the five pieces of wood, letting one other Kage Bushin take out the splinters and the third handling the internal bleeding. She was on her third—the most vital one, as far as she was concerned. It was alarmingly close to his heart, resulting in a collapsed lung and, once again, more internal bleeding along with internal wounds.

He was so lucky he got injured in a base with lots of medical materials, as Temari and Kankuro volunteered to get anesthetics and a glass needle-like pipe that was stabbed into Naruto's left rib, allowing the lung to inflate. He'd still have to visit a hospital afterwards, even though the base here basically had a hospital, albeit it wasn't very advanced.

She maneuvered her hands and finally pulled out the third stake, the other two Kage Bushin quickly getting to their jobs. One hour later, the fifth wooden stake was out and they were working on his internal wounds, two healing him with Shōsen Jutsu and the original Tsunade doing all of the stitching once the internal wounds were simply sensitive skin.

By the time she finished, three hours passed by and the fifteen year old had a needle and blood bag hooked up to his arm. Kushina had plenty of blood to spare thanks to the Kyūbi healing her up.

But, of course, Tsunade wasn't done. The other Kage had to be tended to.

Half of the aware shinobi suddenly stiffened, heads turning towards the hallway as Sakura and Sasuke walked in with Samui following closely behind.

Sakura looked at everybody, noticing the wounds and battered shinobi. She didn't hesitate to start healing up people, Tsunade visibly relaxing as she rushed to help. Sasuke cocked his head slightly, eyeing the injuries of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family along with Jiraiya, A, Tsunade and Ōnoki.

The wounds of the Kage-level shinobi he recognized, and was well acquainted with. He blinked stoically. "Madara attacked."

Jiraiya looked at him. "He did," he replied. "Got us pretty bad. I don't think anybody thought he'd find us so fast."

Sasuke blinked again. "You forget who he is," he stated pointedly. "…Anyways, what else happened? I know Madara wouldn't attack without reason."

"Obito attacked us at the island," Minato started. "We managed to subdue and capture him along with Shodai-sama…teleported the two here. Then this happened. I'm not sure _why_ Hashirama-sama would attack us out of the blue, but I'm guessing it wasn't willing, was it?"

"Talismans," the secret Uchiha replied. He slightly tipped his head towards Sakura, who blinked dumbly as she wrapped up a concussion Ōnoki had. "She understands it better."

Minato's brow furrowed slightly, but he simply nodded. He was aware of Sakura's understanding of fūinjutsu, even taught her a bit. She professed in storage and talisman seals, so he advanced it slightly. She was, by no means, a fūinjutsu master; but she was getting close to one.

He paused at that, his brow creasing even more. A suspicious thought crossed his mind, and his eyes turned steely. He looked at the pink haired girl with a blank expression, blinking before looking away and back towards the recently arrived trio. "Did you catch any traces of them?" he asked.

Samui shook her head. "It's not cool," she said, "they left no scent, and the only remnants of their chakra is here."

"The closest base?"

"The fire base," she responded almost robotically. "Unfortunately it's inactive like most other Akatsuki bases, but it's not an excuse to be avoided and untouched by the members."

Minato slightly tipped his head. "Should we know anything important about it?"

"Yes," Samui said. "It can only be accessed by five people: Pain, the three division leaders and supposedly Konan, though she was never issued there, so it might just be the four formers."

"What of Pain?" A asked out of the blue, his voice painted with a certain venom that was hard to miss. "What about him?"

"Dead," she replied. "I snuck back into Amegakure; I found his corpse. The Rinneegan is no longer with him. Oto was found dead as well. His body was crushed by a fallen pillar."

"Who killed them?" Jiraiya asked. "The Edo Tensei are out of the question."

"It was undoubtedly Hashimoto," Sakura spoke up as she finished up with Mei. Her expression was serious, and she had a bitter look in her eyes. "He's a medic with enough strength to rival Tsunade-sama, and has a modified version of Sōzō Saisei Hashirama made a little while ago. I don't know his motivations, but he stole the dōjutsu and left. I believe he's their reviver, considering he's the last alive…well, that's an _if_. But you get my point. Suspicions is all it is."

Minato's face went flat before his nose was scrunched up in contemplation. He glanced at Tsunade. "How long until I can move again?"

"One week at least," she replied. "Internal wounds are nothing to joke about, it'll take longer to heal up than external wounds, especially if you move and hinder yourself." She looked at Naruto warily; the young blonde was unconscious from blood loss. "He'll take much longer than you, three weeks until he can sit up and be a shinobi, unless he uses his healing ability…"

Minato internally sighed in relief, nodding and not replying. _Good. He's not in any imminent danger._

He was worried for Naruto, and was glad staying back for three hours was worth it. His jaw clenched slightly, but he felt a strain and instantly let the tension go.

"We're going to Suna," Tsunade announced. "Staying here isn't safe, and we are too weakened for our own good. Temari-dono?"

"I'm fine with it," the Rokudaime replied. "But it's _my_ village. _My_ village, _my_ rules…that you have to follow. Are we ready to go?"

"Somewhat," Tsunade replied. "We're leaving tomorrow. No excuses!"

The sternness in her voice made everybody agree.

* * *

Obito was in a lot more pain than anticipated. He was shaking again, but this time it was out of pain. It was a new course of physical reaction but not one Hashirama wasn't unfamiliar with. Said Senju had seen more than enough people shake with pain on the battlefield.

The Uchiha resting on the futon before Hashirama no longer had his mask, and he had his war garment on.

Said attire hadn't really changed, as he wore a black version of the Konoha shinobi outfit. Over it, he wore a high-collared sleeveless mantle. It excluded the Uzumaki symbol, something that made Hashirama scowl. It was just plain black. Even the tape was black; the fingerless gloves he wore were more like a dark grey, but on the dark scale nonetheless. By his side was his tachi's and a six-ringed shakujō along with normal or poisoned kunai and shuriken.

His sleeves were rolled up to reveal the chain-pattern bruises, which were black and blue. It was rather concerning. He was an Edo Tensei. Edo Tensei's heal automatically, no matter what.

The only excuse was the power of the Jūbi and Rikudō Sennin.

Madara had gotten his weapons and Uchiha war gear, a different and customized gunbai on his back along with sickles and duo katana's at his hips. It made Hashirama snort; the Uchiha was always weapons-heavy. But he wasn't one to talk. He wielded an over-sized sword in the battle at the valley.

All of their masks were off, discarded with glee at having a free face.

Hashirama had his own original Senju armor attire, a sword at his hip. He didn't wear any other weapon, he was more of a taijutsu-ninjutsu ninja. He also wore his Konoha headband proudly over his forehead, something Madara scowled at.

Madara tipped his head slightly, looking at Hashirama, who was sitting on his knees by Obito's futon. "Do you have an answer for this?"

The Senju lifted a gloved hand, pressing his index and middle finger against one of the bruises. Obito's teeth clenched and his brow furrowed, his expression becoming looser a few moments later as the pain resided. Hashirama had an expression of contemplation for a few moments before his eyes slightly. He pressed against another bruise with more force, making Obito grunt this time. Then he lifted his own sleeve and pressed against his own skin.

The standing Uchiha sighed impatiently, but didn't rush the man. Despite him not seeing the legendary Senju for a good sixty or so years, he remembered that having patience of a Buddha was necessary.

Hashirama suddenly blanched. "The flesh…" he murmured.

"What of it?" Madara questioned.

"It—it's _real_ …"

* * *

 _Three days later…_

* * *

Obito's wince didn't go unseen. Slowly, the Uchiha turned his head, his expression tense as he looked at the departing trio. Hashimoto blinked, cocking his head around to look at the downed Edo Tensei. "We'll be gone for two weeks at most," he announced. "Hashirama left a Kage Bushin here, and the seals will be locked. Don't move from your spot, let yourself heal up."

Obito simply blinked, but to them it was equivalent to "understood". They left without another word, and Obito turned his head back to the ceiling, his eyes closing as he left himself drift onto the border of consciousness and unconsciousness.

He wasn't sure how long he was out of it, but a sudden pain in his right upper arm made him grimace and become aware of the world around him. His eyes snapped open, and he glanced at Hashirama's clone with a halfhearted glare.

"Your Hatake friend is in here along with the Yondaime Hokage," he whispered. His eyes narrowed. "Get up, and get your gear on."

Obito shot him a questioning look.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we can't show any weaknesses to them," Hashirama murmured, keeping his voice low. "Please bare with me, Obito."

The Uchiha sighed reluctantly, slowly up. He pushed his sleeves back down. He grabbed his tachi, buckling the belt around his waist and putting the kunai into inner pockets of his sleeves. He mixed them up in said sleeve pockets and grabbed the shakujō, slowly standing up with his one Sharingan and Rinnegan spinning into activation. Hashirama nodded, and sunk into the ground, blending in with the bases' surroundings.

The Uchiha internally scowled, but made no other movement. He felt Kakashi and Minato's chakra signature run towards the room, so he slipped out of said room in time for the duo to walk in, the rings of his shakujō being the only indication of his being once there. He emerged into a large, tall, dark hallway, not minding the many turns. This specific base was designed to be like an eternal maze with genjutsu only an Akatsuki member could not be effected by. It confused one's sense of direction and time, mixing up gravity very often.

He heard Kakashi trip over himself, a small smile of amusement etching his lips as he reached the shadowy fork. He glanced over his shoulder, his eye glowing red. The other two shinobi quickly followed him as he turned around the right corner, his small smile expanding as Minato decided to suddenly fall onto his back from genjutsu. Kakashi hurriedly dragged the blonde along, forcing said man to his feet.

 _This'll be interesting._

"Obito!" Kakashi called. "Wait—Obito!"

The Uchiha didn't stop walking, though. He just continued, turning corners and alerting them with sounds of the shakujō, since using visuals wouldn't work any longer. Eventually—after many trips and falls—they reached a box-shaped room. In the middle of the room was an alter, said alter having fūinjutsu kanji scribbled over the outside.

Minato and Kakashi emerged into the room, Kakashi face planting for the fifth time. He quickly got up, rubbing his nose before looking at his secretly amused Uchiha friend. His eyes slightly widened as he recognized the kanji that indicated time-space fūinjutsu. "What the hell are you doing?"

Obito's mismatching eyes narrowed, all amusement forgotten very easily. He looked at them with a flat and steely expression, fear and hate flashing in his eyes before he blinked.

His head tipped to the side as he pulled down his high collar to reveal the ugly bruises he gained. They still hurt a lot, so he was hindering himself greatly just by standing. "Saving our inept asses," he replied, putting the collar back. "You won't understand it, but none of this is real— _nothing_. We're all just sitting sheep waiting to be slaughtered with survivors drowning in their own blood. I'm aware of it."

"Aware of what?" Minato questioned.

"What is truly going on," Obito stated. "…Let me give you a riddle." He smirked. "There is one of everything, and the theories were incorrect. The Mother has damned us all, and the awareness of it _was_ nearly zero."

Confusion crossed both of their faces, but before either of them could question it, the trio disappeared in a flash of white, Hashirama's clone dispelling itself.

* * *

Hashirama suddenly blanched, barely dodging a bijū kick Kushina sent at him. He pulled back, landing next to Madara who had been chilling and relaxing the moment before. He glanced at the Uchiha with his eye, as his other was closed. "He's coming."

The legend narrowed his one exposed eye in contemplation before he blinked. "It's only been a week. Why's he going off on his own?" The _"Hashimoto's gonna be pissed"_ went unsaid, but not unheard.

"I don't know, but he's coming with Blondie and Hatake-san," he murmured as he dodged a chakra arm branching off from Kushina's shoulder, many more following. The duo easily dodged, barely trying to use their superior speed.

Their eyes widened dramatically before they, too, disappeared in a white flash.

* * *

The five landed in the desert of the Fourth Division—where Sakura and Sasuke were issued.

Kakashi's apparent Kage Bushin landed roughly on the sand, dispelling and giving its original the information.

Minato quickly got up, backing away from the Edo Tensei'd trio until he reached the side of Sasuke. The man was wearing a Konoha jōnin flak jacket along with normal shinobi pants and zori. His headband was displayed proudly over his forehead. Sakura wore the same as well, only her own headband was red.

The blonde eyed the two, opening his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Sasuke. He smirked. "Don't worry…" he drawled. "We'll win."

Minato narrowed his eyes. _Today is the eight year anniversary…_ he thought smugly, _of_ course _we're gonna win._ He outwardly offered a toothy grin, but didn't reply.

Way out in the Third Division, Kakashi felt the sudden need to back up Fourth Division. Their battle was basically done, with the exception of a few left over Edo Tensei'd Akatsuki members who were too stubborn to cooperate in the interrogation. He turned around and glanced at Yamanaka Santa, the silent command of "connect me to Inoichi" being heard. Santa nodded and put his palm on Kakashi's forehead, allowing the Hatake to speak to Inoichi.

 _"How is the Fourth Division?"_ he questioned.

Inoichi didn't reply instantly. _"…Reports are coming in,"_ he said. _"The three Akatsuki division leaders are there. They just arrived."_

 _"Shit…that's not good. Fourth Division is going to be destroyed,"_ Kakashi replied. He felt Santa flinch, but he didn't dwell on it.

 _"…Raikage-sama and Tsunade-sama authorized for Second and Third Division to act as backup,"_ Inoichi announced throughout said divisions' Yamanaka's. _"Head to Fourth Division's location as soon as you can. Akatsuki's leaders are nothing to joke about."_

Santa released the jutsu, and Kakashi turned to his division. "Everybody move out!" he called. "We need to provide backup for the Fourth Division! Any uninjured shinobi must come—healers and injured stay here!" He looked at Lee, Nara Ensui and Gai. "You three stay here with Santa, keep a sharp eye out. Report to Inoichi if anything happens."

The three nodded, watching as a large majority of their division left.

The Fourth Division's Yamanaka landed next to Sasuke, murmuring something in his ear really quick before pulling back. Minato cocked his head slightly. "What did he have to say?"

"The Third and Second Division's are on their way to back us up," Sasuke murmured.

Minato simply nodded, pulling out two Hiraishin kunai. He had marked Hashirama and Obito already. Madara wasn't going to be easy, but he felt like he'd get it eventually.

Sakura got into her signature taijutsu stance and Sasuke unsheathed his chokuto, lightning chakra streaming through it and sparking around the blade.

Madara made the first move. He rushed forward in a blur, knocking down many men as he raced through the division. Sasuke didn't hesitate to dash towards the legendary Uchiha with a certain speed Minato hadn't seen since sparring with Hiruzen before said Hokage died. Sasuke lifted his sword, blocking a kick from Madara that was originally aimed for a Kumo-nin.

Madara unsheathed his own duo katana, a thin layer wind chakra bathing the blade as he crossed the blades like an X, Sasuke's horizontal chokuto failing to completely blocking the man.

Sasuke kicked Madara in the stomach, pulling his sword away and ducking low, aiming an upper cut with his hidden speed. Madara's eyes widened, obviously caught off guard by the sudden change of speed. He pulled his chin back, Sasuke's knuckles just barely missing. He jumped back again, but the division leader kept up with him. Sasuke swiped his chokuto again, the lightning zapping and making the air around them crackle.

He stabbed said sword towards Madara's chest, the lightning cracking and breaking the mans armor. Madara jumped back one more time, back flipping in the air and over the crowds of mixed shinobi. The armor was put back together within seconds though, a skeletal Susano'o following as he landed.

The four arms knocked many of the surrounding division members down, the sword it held in two of the hands hacking off limbs and killing instantly. Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wanted to keep his Uchiha status a secret, because if he didn't he'd have more explaining to do than he would've liked.

He shouted orders to for everybody to pull back, to which they did while avoiding Madara like the plague. The tension in his shoulder visibly disappeared as the large group pulled back a little under a quarter mile. Healers of his division were already rushing around.

His eyes narrowed, Sharingan spinning into existence. They molded into the Mangekyō Sharingan, a grin forming on his face as the familiar power flowed through him. It's been a full fifteen years since he last used this specific power. He missed it.

His own skeletal Susano'o grew and manifested, a sword mimicking the chokuto he held. He raised the sword, and brought it down on Madara's own Susnao'o; said legend was deep in dismay, and barely had enough time to block.

Madara backed off, Sasuke's sword hitting the ground and leaving a mark in the sand. The man smirked. "So you're an Uchiha," he said. "And a powerful one at that. You were very good at hiding yourself."

Sasuke didn't look phased. He just dashed forward, his sword hitting Madara in one of his Susano'o arms. A blue sword stabbed forward, but was easily dodged along with the second one. Madara scoffed, and pulled back completely, landing next to Hashirama with his own Susano'o completely disappearing.

Sasuke let go of his as well; the pain used to be no hindrance, but he hadn't used Susano'o in a good number of years. His jaw clenched, and he jumped back until he landed next to Sakura, his wife instantly getting around to healing him.

Minato's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "You have a lot of explaining to do after this," he snapped.

Sasuke snorted. "I know," he grumbled. "I do apologize for not telling you earlier, but I have my reasons."

"They better be good," Minato murmured vehemently before he turned his head over his shoulder. Kakashi, Naruto and Kushina landed a few meters behind the trio, Naruto in his toad Sage mode with Tobi wrapped around him, Kakashi with his headband up and Kushina with her bijū mode activated. His face twisted into an annoyed frown. There was a reason why he dispatched Naruto and Kushina by the First Division… "Good to see you three alive."

"I am going to kick their asses dattebane!" Kushina shouted, pointing a golden finger at them with a sneer. "And then put their heads up their asses because they bailed on us!"

"Yeah 'ttebayo!" Naruto agreed loudly.

Minato rolled his eyes, but turned his head back to the three of the four remaining Akatsuki members with a steely expression. "Calm down. At least _try_ to think with a cool head."

Kushina snorted, joining her husbands side and getting into a taijutsu stance. Naruto and Kakashi both pulled their weapons out—Kakashi had a standard kunai while Naruto had Madara's gunbai.

The Uchiha eyed the weapon. "Oh. So that's where it went," he mumbled.

Hashirama saw the gunbai and guffawed like an idiot. "Where the hell do he get that?! That thing is like your _baby_!"

"I gave it to him," Obito spoke up.

Madara looked annoyed. "And I'm stealing it back," he said hastily. "It'll be like taking candy from a baby."

"You're cold," Hashirama grumbled. He put his hands up, motioning them like he was crumbling paper. "Like a compressed ball of nitrogen oxide, because you're just that cold." He grinned. "If I had a bucket of nitrogen oxide, and if I put a heated kunai in it, it'd freeze instantly. Because that's how cold you are. If—"

Madara glared. "Don't even _finish_ , you little shit," he seethed.

Hashirama lost his posture and slumped over as he became depressed, sighing somberly. Obito looked slightly amused, if only a little. He enjoyed these little rare moments, because it meant that two enemies weren't minding their hatred.

 _"Don't waste time,"_ Hashimoto's voice echoed in their heads as he spoke via talismans. _"Attack with all you've got, but don't kill anybody. Retrieve the jinchūriki."_

Madara quirked a brow at the "don't kill anybody" order, but decided to think about it later on. He felt the power of Obito's Rinnegan disappear, the power of a Sharingan replacing it. He glanced at the other Uchiha, his own eyes both red with the Mangekyō.

Obito returned the stare, his Kamui eyes reflecting the unseen visuals of a promised hell.

The skeletal versions of Susano'o evolved into Kensaitai – Susano'o, Obito's a pretty shade of turquoise with white shimmers of light, and Madara's the deep blue sea. Hashirama put his hands together in the snake hand seal, and murmured, " _Mokuton: Shin Sūsenju_."

Barely a moment latter, a wooden Buddha statue with thousands of hands branching out from its back. It easily dwarfed the two Susano'o next to it, but that wasn't paid any mind.

Tobi and Naruto pulled back quite a ways, and their chakra pulsed in unison. Their own Shin Sūsenju was formed, causing Naruto to grit his teeth. Kushina went full bijū mode as Kurama's golden body picked her and Minato up.

Sakura stopped healing Sasuke, pulling her headband down to her neck and revealing the green diamond of Sōzō Saisei. Sasuke created an armored Susano'o that quickly evolved into a Kensaitai – Susano'o as well, Sakura and Kakashi jumping up the body's arm until they were at its ears.

Obito grinned, letting Kirai come out. "This better be fucking worth it!" he called as he commanded his Susnao'o to move and attack.

* * *

 **"Sōzō Saisei": "Creation Rebirth"**

 **"Mokuton: Shin Sūsenju": "Wood Release [Style]: True Several Thousand Hands"**

 **"Kensaitai – Susano'o": "Full Body – Susano'o"**

 **"Tsuki no Me Keikaku": "Eye of the Moon Project [Plan]"**

 **So.**

 **Nice.**

 **Anyways, I've made my resolve on how the story should end.**

 **Ya'll are probably gonna hate me. Lolz XD**

 **BTW, I've posted some works for this story on my DeviantArt account. Pen name is Toudan-no-Hyoushi, if you forgot. As of this update [8/2] I'm working on Madara and Hashirama. That's why this update was slow, actually. I was also working on Ephemeral and a story cover for a friend of mine.**

 **Preview (most likely spoilers for chapter 14 but DILLIGAF?):**

"I am the one who will establish peace and order."

 **Peace! :3**


	14. Breaking The World

**TammyHybrid21: Yes, that's true. It remained that way, too, they just didn't say anything. The reviver admits and reveals who he is this chapter. Yes, Tsunade plus Kage Bushin equals being damned ten plus times over. Hashimoto revives them this chapter, not last chapter. *derps* Hehe. Yes, eight year anniversary of Obito's death. That was a subtle as to who the reviver is, smugness included. This may or may not be the last chapter, too. Thanks for your review :3**

 **Dandelion-san: More like a neutral ending, but whatever :p lol. No, it's not Sakura because the reviver is male :P No. Questions will be answered at the end of this chapter, because I'm pretty damn sure this'll be that last one, if I get positive feedback for an epilogue. Thanks for your review :3**

 **XD**

 **Recommended songs: My Apocalypse by Escape The Fate and After the Storm by Mumford and Sons.**

 **Original word count: 3.7k~**

 **Enjoy my demarcated chapter (whatever the fuck that means) :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 13: Breaking The World_

* * *

Somber, mismatched eyes narrowed as they stared at the man who sat limply before their owner, said man wrapped in the roots of a tree nowhere near by. Bruises littered the man from head to toe; they were dark, black and cringe worthy. Confusion clouded the mismatching eyes before their owner shook their head, looking away and walking throughout the rest of the old monumental battlefield with an anxious and paranoid look.

They had to move quickly. The Mother would catch the owner of the somber and mismatched eyes at the rate of speed they were going.

* * *

Dark red and glowing Kamui-shaped shuriken manifested in Kirai's Susano'o's hands. The humanoid threw the shuriken, one of them hitting Sasuke's sword while the other zipped past Kurama's shoulder. The one that hit Sasuke had enough force to push the purple Susano'o back a few meters, as it was still spinning and scraping against Sasuke's weapon. The Kamui-shaped shuriken that raced past Kurama pulled itself back around, zipping past the bijū's ear.

Kushina clicked her tongue, raising her golden arms. Kurama's mouth opened, a bijūdama forming within his jaws. But the gargantuan beast was suddenly yanked down by the neck when Kirai's Susano'o caught the Kamui shuriken, the turquoise wrist flicking to initiate the action. The forming bijūdama was released, Kurama easily yanking himself out of the hold.

Kirai's Susano'o leaped forward, landing in front of the bijū and grabbing onto the beasts' throat base. Kurama roared and lifted his own arms, claws attempting to dig into the shoulder armor. The bijū pushed forward, jaws wrapping around the Susano'o's head. It cracked under the pressure, but Kirai moved quickly.

The humanoid kneed Kurama in the gut, punching the bijū in the jaw and grabbing said beasts' throat, pushing him down onto his back. Kurama roared again, jaws snapping and hands scratching. Kushina and Minato weren't really sure what to do; Minato wasn't sure if he had any other reasonable markers and Kushina wasn't exactly in the driver seat.

Kirai eyed the wooden hands that rushed at him with blinding speeds. His Susano'o was yanked off of the trio by said hands, the Kamui shuriken rushing towards Tobi and Naruto barely a nanosecond later. They were grabbed midair by the Buddha creature. The shuriken were yanked away, hacking off the hands. The Susano'o pulled back, dodging any other hands that charged them.

"That's unfair," Kirai snapped, his Sharingan spinning wildly. He grinned, blood seeping from his eyelids and down his cheeks. "And rude, too…what? Got no manners?"

Naruto openly flinched, blue eyes unsure and hurt. Guruguru wrapped the rest of his body around Naruto's head, exchanging some words before the hands continued to seize the turquoise Susano'o.

Kirai gritted his teeth, raising his arm to throw his shuriken again, but movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. Hashirama's own Shin Sūsenju seized hands onto Tobi and Naruto, shattering arms and pushing the other duo back.

Kushina put her arms up again, another bijūdama forming in between Kurama's open jaws. Kirai scoffed, more blood falling from his eyelids. He grunted painfully as spikes grew from his arm, ripping through the shell of Susano'o and wrapping around the humanoid's arm.

Tendrils twisted around its hand, and created a wooden glove and with sharp nails. Kirai was starting to breathe heavily, confusion dawning on his face as he lifted the Susano'o's arm up.

But the bijūdama never came. Instead, the Kyūbi disappeared. Kirai blanched, confusion replaced by dismay and realization that he was marked with Hiraishin.

Kurama reappeared behind him, the bijūdama finally launching.

As quickly as he could go, Kirai created more wood branching off from the wood that was on his arm; it covered only its shoulder. But before the bomb could reach it, Kirai's body spasmed. The Susano'o fell, letting the bomb continue its race towards its target. It ended up hitting Hashirama, hands shooting out and compressing the bomb's power. But the explosion was still large.

Kurama's tail shot out, swiping and hitting Kirai away into a pillar of stones. The division leader hit the stone with a loud crack, his body limply falling as the explosion happened only meters away.

The force threw him back again, but he used his Kamui and turned intangible, going through the stone instead of hitting it again. He let go the instant he passed through the rock, the pinch in the back of his eyes intensifying and making his vision deteriorate to a peripheral blur.

Kirai skidded and rolled through the sand, sliding on his side to a stop. He felt sand in his eyes, the hot sticky blood on his face adding to the discomfort. He attempted to move, but grunted painfully as he moved his arm and leg. Both bones were obviously broken, and the bruises that still decorated his flesh were not helping.

On his torso—where the bijū's tail had hit—was where a bad bruise was forming; its existence alone made it hard to breathe. He struggled to get up when the Kyūbi neared, only making it to his knees. His broken leg refused to move without making him miserable, and his arm was no help. He glanced at the injured leg. Blood stained his shinobi pants, more than a few shards of his bone stuck out.

Kirai looked rather grim, his vision blackening without any trouble before Obito was in the drivers seat again.

The Uchiha openly flinched as Kurama's weight made the ground shake, the vibrations making pain intense. His jaw clenched, blood making him cough and wheeze. He put his unbroken arm over his torso, the small portion of chakra he had left streaming through his coils and glowing green to heal what he could.

He felt movement, but he didn't bother to block it. Kurama's claw hit him in the side, pushing him more than a few meters to the left. Pain numbed him for a second. He felt blood fall from his torso, but he didn't bother to look to know that the wound on his gut had opened up.

The bijū's presence disappeared completely, his chakra retracting and Kushina's own signature taking its rightful place. She rushed up to him, sliding as she hurried to his side. He glanced at her, panting rasped breaths. Minato joined his side quickly, rolling the dark haired Akatsuki member onto his back to heal him up. His palms loomed and glowed green as he started using an improved Shōsen Jutsu.

Kushina looked at his eyes. His right eye was Kamui, while the other had a purple-grey eye with ripple pattern across his entire cornea. She blinked and frowned, but it was quickly forgotten when she noticed that his right eye had white sclera instead of black. Realization dawned, and tears gathered in her eyes. "Y-you're alive…"

He grinned, pain glinting in his Kamui eye as he closed his Rinnegan eye. "Would've regenerated a long time ago if I wasn't," he rasped weakly.

The red haired Uzumaki squeezed his uninjured hand, lips pressing into a thin line as she started crying. A smile of happiness stretched across her face, but she didn't say anything.

However the moment was interrupted when Madara's chakra signature flared. Their heads turned towards the other raging battle. Hashirama's Shin Sūsenju was gone, Naruto and Tobi's taking his place. The two stood on top of the remaining Buddha statue, Sasuke's Susano'o wrestling with Madara's.

But a clone of Madara stood on the ground, dodging attacks simultaneously coming from Kakashi and Sakura. A third clone stood on a rock, a two-headed, four-armed Susano'o with fingers twisted in the tiger seal along with said clone. A meteorite descended down from above, parting the clouds and making the area dark.

Hashirama jumped off of the Buddha's head, putting his hands in the snake hand seal as he landed. Barely a second later, gargantuan wood tendrils twisted out of the ground, twisting and branching out like a flower. The wood stabbed into the meteorite, making the large astro rock crumble and split to pieces. The ones that branched off and fell towards the divisions were crushed to smaller pieces, said divisions falling back even further.

Minato stopped Shōsen Jutsu, clapping his hands together and pulsing his chakra. Obito's eye widened as he coughed, blood spilling and making him grunt painfully. The Yondaime looked at his wife with a smile. "Go help."

Kushina blinked. "Wha—"

"It's fine," he assured, his smile widening. "I'll join you, and you'll see Obito after the battle. I promise."

The Uzumaki squeezed Obito's hand, a look of contemplation stretching across her fair skinned face before she leaned over. She kissed Obito's forehead briefly, standing and backing away. She went bijū mode, and jumped off, landing a punch on Madara's Susano'o and giving their side the upper hand.

Obito looked up at Minato. "You're the reviver, aren't you?" he croaked.

The blonde smirked. "I am," he replied.

He blanched before mustering a one-eyed glare. "Why'd you do it?"

Minato sighed. "Long story short," he murmured, avoiding eye contact, "grief. Mostly grief. But when you died…I—I became aware. So…I devised a plan to revive you. Madara and Shodai-sama were additions…"

He sighed again, rubbing his eye lids as a piece of the meteorite fell behind them, blocking their view from the battle. He smiled bitterly, almost psychotically. He suddenly looked years older, and had dark circles under his eyes. "It was never my intention for you to gain DID…or gain these bruises…" he continued. "A Fourth War starting was also never my intention…I plan on atoning it all by dying…"

"How is that 'atoning it all'?" Obito snapped, his expression twisting painfully as he coughed again from the sudden change in tone of voice.

Minato picked his former student up bridal style, slowly making his way forward and away from the battle. The Uchiha's head leaned on his chest, the bruises making him weak and the blood loss weaker. He looked grim as he stopped walking, head tipped upwards towards the source of the shadow. Another bitter smile twitched at his lips.

"Dying is essential," he said somberly. "It is the end to everyone's beginning, and the beginning after an end. It makes others stronger and puts most to a release. But for us…it'll be a continuation; we won't get a break until we die one more time after this."

Obito's face became dark with understanding. "Ah. I see," he murmured. "So I don't have a choice."

Minato simply smiled and nodded, their names being shouted as another large piece of the meteorite crushed them, both of their worlds going black.

* * *

"I am the one who will establish peace and order, dattebayo."

Obito's head snapped up, his hand reaching and grabbing his shakujō from his waist. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the blonde standing before him. He froze, realization and dismay etching into his face. Memories hit him like a tornado; he remembered so many things—he had lived two lives, one full of more misery than the other.

The blonde was Naruto— _the_ Uzumaki Naruto. He wore a black muscle shirt, elbow-tall gloves matching. They were fingerless, excluding the thumb. He wore his orange shinobi pants and zori, said pants battered and beaten. He had two poles on a belt around his waist, similar to the shakujō Obito wielded. His hair was considerably longer, and he wore a Shinobi Rengōku headband. His skin was somewhat paler, and the whisker marks had become slightly faded.

The most noticeable difference was the fact that he had a Byakugan in his right eye and a Rinnegan in his left.

Naruto wore a flat expression, one that didn't fit him. His mismatched eyes were somber, experience etching in his knew look. He smiled, though it looked absolutely pathetic. "Those were the exact words Hagoromo-jiji told me," he said.

Obito looked around. They were in a room, obviously. The ground was orange and one candle lit the entire thing up. A sun-like pattern was underneath Naruto's feet, the beams branching out in nine directions. He tipped his head, putting his shakujō down with a mildly interested look. "Hagoromo?"

The blonde chuckled. "Yes. The Rikudō Sennin—Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo. Those were the exact words he told me when he and his brother gave me their power."

Obito's cocked a brow.

"After the Mugen Tsukuyomi was cast, Madara was possessed by a woman named Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—the Mother of all chakra," he explained. "She enhanced the genjutsu, weaved it and synchronized it with everyone's heads. It wasn't smart, because it basically recreated our world, but she seemed content with it."

"Why aren't you under?"

"Hamura and Hagoromo gave me their eyes. Hamura gave me his Yin chakra while Hagoromo gave me his Yang. It protected me…I'm also the jinchūriki of all eight bijū," Naruto replied. "Kurama's under the genjutsu as well. Not to mention, I've been battling Kaguya on and off for three years now. We stand on equal ground, the battles always end with us both mentally drained."

Obito sighed, a dark frown marring his scarred face. He visibly wilted, suddenly looking older than he should. "Three years," he echoed quietly. His lips pressed in a thin line as he walked up to the blonde Uzumaki. He grabbed the twenty year olds wrist and pulled him into a hug. "I am _so_ sorry…"

Naruto tensed under the sudden embrace, but returned it a moment later. He buried his head in the older mans shoulder, shoulders shaking as he started to cry. Obito's grip tightened.

They stayed that way for a rather long time, Naruto finally pushing away and wiping his eyes. He grabbed Obito's right hand, shaky fingers tracing the calloused creases. Chakra glowed, and was given to the Uchiha. He smiled, not looking up. "Your shield," he said.

Obito ruffled the blondes hair. "Thanks," he replied. He looked around again. "How do we get out?"

Naruto smiled again, and the next thing Obito knew, he was wrapped in tree roots in a battlefield full of rubble. The orange-floored room was gone.

He pulled Obito out, the Uchiha stumbling slightly as he landed on his feet. He straightened up, and looked at Naruto. The Uzumaki looked absolutely exhausted; deep circles were under his eyes, his breathing was uneven, and sweat dotted his face. "Two more moves," he said. "I just need to perform two more moves, and Mugen Tsukuyomi will be eternally gone, along with Kaguya."

"I take it you want me to stall," Obito mumbled. He looked around, spotting many, many, many familiar faces all on the ground wrapped up in roots. He spotted Kakashi, Minato, Sakura, Sasuke—hell, he even saw Hashirama and Tobirama stuck under the genjutsu. "Kudos to you for surviving…must've been Hell."

"At first," Naruto murmured. He went into Rikudō Mōdō, Obito wincing at the sudden flare of power. "Then it just became a nightmare I couldn't wake up from."

A sympathetic look stretched across his face.

"Anyways," the Uzumaki continued, "I need her to lose control, so I'll be throwing eight different bijū Rasenshuriken's at Kaguya to get her to react to the bijū's chakra…it always ends with her and I exhausted, but with you I think I can land a final blow and seal her away…"

"Using your Rinnegan," Obito finished. He cocked his head. _If using all eight available bijū's chakra, then Naruto will be using more chakra, and it'll add to the exhaustion he's already experiencing. Adding that to the fact that he'll be using Chibaku Tensei…_ "That'll exhaust you to unconsciousness. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Kaguya is the source of the Tsukuyomi," Naruto pointed out as seven other clones appeared. "Is she dies, the genjutsu dies."

Obito rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes and sighing. He looked up to the dark, cloudy sky. It was starless, eternal pitch black nothingness stretched over the horizon, the red Rinne Sharingan moon shining broadly over roots and people. He sighed again, looking at Naruto. "If you say so…"

The Uchiha openly flinched and blanched when he suddenly felt a strong, overpowering presence. He couldn't pinpoint its source; the presence blanketed the entire battlefield. Naruto turned his head towards a silver haired woman, who stood on a rock a number of yards away from the duo.

She had brown rabbit-like horns on her head, said silver hair dragging on the floor. She wore a hime-kimono, black tomoe decorating the front. On her forehead was a vertical eye; it was the Rinne Sharingan, while her other eyes had the Byakugan. Her eyebrows were short, and she had red lipstick.

"Kaguya," one of the Naruto's said. It wasn't the original, but from the action, Obito was guessing he wanted to deceive the woman.

Kaguya looked exhausted as well. Her chakra coils had a certain level of power that didn't match her chakra, not to mention is she was "the Mother of all chakra". If what Naruto was correct then she'd likely have a lot more. It was also low for normal standards. Not to mention, sweat dotted her face and she had circles under her Byakugan eyes. "Child," she snapped, "one extra man will not make a difference. I'm offended. I'm not _weak_. Has your three year war with me not told you that much?"

The clones grinned, not replying. They ran towards her, Obito activating his Kamui and staying back. Rasengan's appeared in each other their hands, ranging from different colors and patterns. Wind blades stretched out, creating loud screeching at the Fūton blades cut through the air. All eight were thrown.

Kaguya dodged each of them, the explosions barely reaching her. But the aftermath wasn't pretty; craters decorated the ground around her as she suddenly expanded, turning into a large humanoid rabbit. Her teeth became jagged, her eyes remaining the same along with her third eye. On her back was a large compressed ball of chakra that fused with her; it had the heads of the nine tailed beasts, their jaws parted in a snarl that mimicked the rabbits own snarl.

Her large white arm swiped, dispelling most of Naruto's clones and leaving only three. They completely dispelled, the original remaining. He landed on the ground, putting his hands in a snake hand seal.

Chakra arms shot out, hitting the ground and making it turn into ash. She roared, Obito recreating a Kanseitai – Susano'o. He used Kirai's strategy, grunting as the wooden tendrils of Mokuton shot out of his arm. It pierced through the Susano'o, encasing its turquoise left arm. He reached out to grab Kaguya, gripping her throat and punching her in the gut.

The goddess roared again, the screeching sound making him flinch. The chakra arms aimed for him, wrapping around the Susano'o's limbs and slowly making it melt. He sneered, the Mokuton wrapping around her throat and shoulders, tightening and making it struggle.

It stayed like that for quite a few seconds before she backed off, the power being suppressed by Kaguya's will alone. The rabbit shrunk until the Ōtsutsuki reformed, glaring with veins popping up against her cheeks.

Obito let the Susano'o go, going intangible as she aimed a swipe of sharp nails towards his throat. He grabbed his shakujō, ducking underneath a whiplash also aimed for his neck.

He stabbed the base of the staff into her stomach, making her cough. But it had barely phased her; the woman's hair surrounded him, but he used Kamui's ability again. He went through the strands, briefly becoming tangible again and hitting her cheek with the rings.

She snarled, obviously enraged that he was effectively dodging her hits. Bones grew out of her back and the bases of her wrist, teeth clenching as her chakra went a little bit lower. She threw the two bones at him, but said bones went straight through like air. She reached for ten more from her back, all in between her fingers. They were thrown, racing at him in blurs.

He turned his head towards Naruto. The blondes hands raised, rocks following and quickly encasing Kaguya. She shouted in frustration, more bones branching off. They were thrown down at the duo as she was raised off of the ground rather slowly towards a black ball in the sky.

" _Rikudō – Chibaku Tensei_ ," Naruto said as he dodged the bones lithely. Rocks turned to ash, and roots retracted back into the ground away from everybody. The moons light was fading.

Obito looked up at Kaguya, panting as his eyes bled. _Damn Susano'o_ , he thought bitterly.

His Kamui was still activated, the bones still raining down on them. He jumped back, trying to get put of their range. He released a breath of tension when she stopped, only meters away from the over-sized boulder. She glared hatefully, her chakra pools completely depleting when a final bone started racing towards Naruto. The blonde winced, completely caught off guard by the last attempt. The blur was already too close as he got out of his kneeling position.

His chakra was gone, and the bijū were drained. Everybody was practically dead because of how exhausted they were.

Time seemed to slow down when Obito's chakra signature flared, the blur disappearing in a swirl. Naruto's eyes widened. He turned his head towards the Uchiha, breath catching in his throat. He rushed towards him, letting go of his Rikudō Mōdō.

Obito had a bone stabbed through his chest, his expression dead with pain and his body limply standing as it started to turned to ash. He smiled apologetically as people started to wake up, the new moon rising higher and higher in the sky as the old one crumbled and fell from the pressure of the genjutsu.

He raised his right arm, plucking out his Sharingan eyes and handing them over before he completely crumbled into ash, taking a silent—but sad—leave.

Naruto's eyes dampened as he started crying for a second time in nearly four years, his arms falling to his side. He had lost two rather important people; Neji being the first, with Obito following. That was a downfall.

But, on the bright side, he broke the Mugen Tsukuyomi—and the dead were put to rest.

Naruto just silently hoped that they found a peaceful release.

* * *

 **"Kanseitai – Susano'o": "Full Body – Susano'o"**

 **"Bijūdama": "Tailed-Beast Bomb"**

 **"Bijū Mōdō": "Tailed-Beast Mode"**

 **"Rikudō Mōdō": "Six Paths Mode"**

 **"Shōsen Jutsu": "Mystical Palm Technique"**

 **"Shin Sūsenju": "True Several Thousand Hands"**

 **"Kamui": "Authority of the Gods"**

 **"Susano'o": "He with the ability to help by all means"**

 **"Mugen Tsukuyomi": "Eternal Nightmare Realm"**

 **This was more of a neutral ending in my opinion, because the Tsukuyomi was lifted and people came back to life; but to weigh that to equality, the center of the story died and Naruto was on the verge of psychosis. Plus, the after effects weren't the prettiest.**

 **Which brings me to ask this:** **Epilogue or no epilogue?**

* * *

 **Q &A:**

 **Q: Where were Kisame, Zabuza, Haku and Shisui during the entire genjutsu? A: In the Tsukuyomi, Kisame kept his head low, and went into hiding. Zabuza didn't get Haku until Naruto was ten, and they ended up dying at the bridge like canon. Shisui went into hiding as well, eventually allowing Itachi to kill him.**

 **Q: What of Ijigen Jutsu? A: It doesn't actually exist. That was woven into the modified version of the Tsukuyomi Kaguya created.**

 **Q: Was the dead included or was that part of the Tsukuyomi? A: The dead was included.**

 **Q: How did Obito know of the Shiki Fūjin? A: Naruto (the one who was outside of the genjutsu) walked around the battlefield when he wasn't fighting. He spoke to everybody. At one point, he learned how to use Shiki Fūjin while recuperating after a battle, and he just so happened to tell Obito about it.**

 **Q: After Kuro Zetsu was sealed away, where did he go? A: Into hiding. It'll likely be shown in the epilogue if I ever want to create an afterword.**

 **Q: Kaguya has near-infinite reserves, so why was she so low in the last battle? A: She and Naruto had been fighting for a solid two weeks before Obito woke up.**

 **Q: When did Minato become aware, and how? A: When Obito died the first time around. The fūinjutsu on the Shiro Zetsu reminded him of his death and the fact that he was stuck in the Shinigami's stomach for a good seventeen years.**

 **Q: Did anybody else (other than Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke) "travel back in time"? And how did they maintain future knowledge? A: Yes, Kurama was felled along with almost all of the team, which is why he never escaped Kushina's seal during Naruto's birthing process. They maintained future knowledge by being connected to Naruto's Rikudō chakra after he gave them a portion in hopes of waking them up the moment Hagoromo and Hamura gave him their chakra.**

 **Q: Does Naruto ever share his Rikudō power? A: Yes. He gives the Rinnegan to Sasuke, the Sharingan to Kakashi (as well as Kamui), and some Rikudō healing powers to Sakura. He kept his Byakugan eye.**

 **Q: Who is Hashimoto? A: He is a former Konoha jōnin, but he was all part of the genjutsu, thus his frustration when he scanned Obito with a diagnosis jutsu.**

 **Q: Why did Obito's flesh become realistic? A: Essentially he was spoken to the most, and the one-sided interaction reflected on the genjutsu. If he was directly touched by foreign chakra in the genjutsu, then he or she would become aware. (By directly I mean like almost-touching/touching skin).**

 **Q: Which bijū were put under? A: Ichibi to Hachibi went unaffected, so in the genjutsu they were like zombies. Unfortunately Kurama got affected, and his power became unusable until the genjutsu was broken.**

 **Q: If Kushina's chakra chains touched Obito, then why wasn't she aware? A: Obito's flesh wasn't real when that happened; when the bruises settled in upon arrival to the base was when it became real.**

 **Review if you have anymore questions.**

 **Peace! :3**


	15. Chanced by Thrice

**HybridTrash13/TammyHybrid21: Lol. I had a feeling you guessed ;P Obito's eyes degenerated because everyone was stuck under the influence of Shin: Jukai Kōtan. It turns them into a Shiro Zetsu, basically, without the Mokuton—if I'm right. The Senju cells were deteriorated and destroyed in the two years. Yup, Minato's ass is in trouble ^_^ This epilogue won't be taking place in the Pure Land, matter of fact. There's a brief moment where Kakashi ends up there, but as said before it's brief. Thanks for your reviews :3**

 **I think I just gained my first flame since December. Thank you, KennyDildo/Guest. Flame on! (Just not here).**

 **Recommended songs: Touch The Sun by Instrumental Core.**

 **Original word count: 1.8k~**

 **Enjoy The End :p**

* * *

 _Epilogue: Chanced by Thrice_

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto sighed, putting the paper of the requested mission down. He'd give it to Kakashi, seeing as the fifty year old man was planning on retiring within the next few years. The blonde insisted in retiring Kakashi when he turned forty, but that obviously didn't go as planned. Most of the last generation jōnin were aiming for a retirement, with chūnin of his generation descending or flourishing as a jōnin.

He became the Nanadaime Hokage.

Kakashi was the Rokudaime once upon a time, but retired from the position and returned to jōnin. He also gained an artificial throat and arm from Shin: Jukai Kōtan, and couldn't really be pushed any further than a low A-ranked.

Shikamaru and Temari got married, and had Shikadai.

Sarutobi Mirai became a respected chūnin who walked in the path of Shikamaru and Asuma.

Kurenai was aiming for retirement.

Iruka became an advisor of Naruto's.

Konohamaru became a respected jōnin, on the road of jōnin-sensei.

Gai was Gai.

Lee trained a mini-Lee.

Tenten opened a shop of her own, and became Konoha's number one weapon specialist.

Kiba entered ANBU at one point, stayed for six months and then left, returning to the days of being a hopeless lady-killer.

Shino became an academy teacher.

Ino and Sai finally stopped confusing each other and settled down. Their child was Inojin.

Chōji—surprisingly—got married to Karui, and the seventeenth head of the Akimichi Clan was named Chōchō.

Sasuke and Sakura got together again. They married, and had one child—again, apparently. It was Sarada. Sasuke had practically became a ghost with the political mission he was given, and it caused family problems. But recently, Sasuke returned. Their problems were fixed.

But him? Not really. He wasn't sure why, but his oldest son Boruto just didn't work well with him. He knew that being Hokage would cause problems here and there, and he'd promised himself he would fix them.

His second oldest daughter Himawari loved him, was called "daddy's princess" by more than a few people. She would often jump into his arms and hug his face when he got home. Boruto would scoff or wave—sometimes he'd just blatantly ignore him. Hinata would always kiss him hello, if he ever got home during the evening.

Naruto heard the soft chuckle of Kurama. He openly scoffed and went back to working. The bijū were returned to their respective villages, being put into children with open minds and brilliant insight.

It took five years to find all six children, but it worked out. It hurt a lot when the bijū was extracted, the only factors keeping him currently alive being his Rikudō chakra and Kurama. After affects of a bijū extraction lasted a long time, especially if eight of the nine bijū were yanked out.

He had one eye, too. Only his Byakugan remained; the Rinnegan was given to Sasuke, and Kakashi gained the Sharingan. Kamui was also passed down to him.

The Uzumaki internally sighed when the Kamui reminded him of Obito. After he died via Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu, Kakashi became so disconnected with everyone that some people thought he had turned psychotic—others theorized that he was cutting, most concluded he'd die within three months. It was ridiculous.

But, eventually, he somewhat regathered himself. The Hatake got older, a little bit more wiser—and became Boruto, Himawari and Sarada's grandfather in some weird aspect. He never really changed; he was always two hours late, he visited the memorial stone a lot, and he still read his Icha Icha around children, sometimes voicing the dialogue. Nobody understood as to why he read it still, he just gave them his signature eye smile whenever questioned about it.

Naruto internally chuckled, his hand flicking. A female ANBU appeared barely a moment later. "Get Kaka-sensei here please," he said.

She nodded, and disappeared in a shunshin.

Two hours, four foot tall stacks of paper, and a sore hand later, Kakashi opened the door of the office.

"God damn sensei!" Naruto shouted. In under a nanosecond, he chucked his pen at the opened door. Kakashi ducked, the pen soaring over his head and hitting the wall of the hall outside.

The Hatake straightened up, chuckling as he closed the door behind himself. He walked up to the desk. "Yes, yes, I know. 'Why was I so late?' you ask. Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way."

Naruto snorted, grumbling something before grabbing the paper and chucking it at Kakashi with a sulky expression. "Client specifically requested for you," he said. "Don't know why, but it's likely that she underestimated you because of you being old."

"I'm not _old_ …" the Hatake grumbled as he scanned the paper briefly. "I've just lived longer than you."

"That's a _variant_ of old, _gramps_."

"Maa, remember the old days when you believed that faeries were fairies? I do," Kakashi randomly mused aloud. He looked at the blonde jinchūriki with an eye smile. He lowered the paper. "I feel like I've lived longer than you."

"That's because you're _old_ , dattebayo," Naruto shot back.

Kakashi chuckled and shrugged, amusement sparkling in his eyes. He turned and walked off. "Well, I'm off. I'll see you sometime else," he said, lazily waving as he walked out of the office.

The blonde Nanadaime rolled his eye, eyeing the other four large stacks of paper he still had to take care of with an evil expression. He sighed, and got to work.

Three weeks later, Hatake Kakashi was reported dead. Cause of death: Extreme chakra exhaustion and a seizure.

* * *

 _Three weeks earlier…_

* * *

Ijigen no Jutsu was a mysterious jutsu.

The theory was even more mysterious.

Obito was a genius in dimension jutsu's. Godly, even.

Even though it was completely made up, a jutsu was a jutsu. Within the genjutsu, it was taught to Kakashi in Obito's "last" moments during the rockfall. He remembered it. He never forgot anything that had happened in the Tsukuyomi, because fake world or not he was spending time with Obito—something he wanted and most likely needed for thirty plus years.

He knew the hand seals and the requirements—the amount of chakra necessary, what seals were needed, how it should be executed and so forth.

The mission he was going on was perfect— _more_ than perfect. He had to execute an irrelevant A-ranked Konohagakure no Sato missing-nin. That was it. He'd be gone for a week at most, possibly two.

He had nothing to lose, if he had a saying in it.

True, he'd probably cause Naruto to feel regret, but he had his family—Hinata, Himawari, Boruto…Sasuke and Sakura would be there for him and Hinata, while Sarada would be there for Himawari and Boruto, and vice versa. He was rather disconnected with the rest of the world, only speaking with the people unless it was necessary. Bonding only happened because it was forced—either that or it just happened like it did with his Team Seven.

But it wasn't like he was gonna die, as he planned to stay under the jutsu for only a decade, maybe less. There was a seventy-five percent chance that he'd fail, but he has worked under said circumstance more than once, and has survived it all. Failure was included.

He got off of his bed, staring at the sheets for a moment before grabbing his packing scroll from the nightstand and leaving. He took to the rooftops, passing one or two ninja as he made his way towards the gates.

* * *

" _Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu_!"

Kakashi ducked underneath the fire bullets, racing forward with a kunai spontaneously appearing in his right hand. Lightning chakra gathered and sparked, the air crackling as he started forming a Raikiri.

The missing-nin's eyes widened, but he only had a brief second to take in a sharp breath before Kakashi's arm was stabbed through his heart. The man choked and coughed up blood before completely going limp, his expression dead with pain.

The Hatake pulled his arm out, wiping the blood on his pants. He pulled out a scroll, kneeling down and unravelling it in front of the body. He put his hands up in the tiger hand seal, the fūinjutsu markings on the paper glowing and sealing the fresh corpse away. He gathered the scroll back up, tucking it away and sitting against a freshly fallen tree. Leaves were burning around him, smoke filling the air above him.

But he payed it no mind. He raised his arms, molding chakra as he performed the ram, horse, monkey, dragon, tiger and ram hand seals. Nothing happened for a minute, so he stood up.

He instantly regretted it.

Barely a second later, his balance was lost. Ridiculous waves of pain hit him like a tornado—said comparison was something he has felt more than once—and he felt dizzy. He stumbled a few steps backwards, the world around him shifting.

The edges of his vision continuously flickered between black and light blue, his headache worsening. Colors turned carmine, then to a vignette glow—and then to a vivid version of his surroundings' colors. He gritted his teeth, bearing through it before a sharp pain hit him in his temples.

He grunted and fell forward on his chest. His vision finally blackened.

But the eternal oblivious abyss of unconsciousness didn't stay for long. Barely a second later, Kakashi felt the weight of a man on his chest and ice cold hands on his cheeks. He cracked open his eyes, his vision blurring greatly.

He saw a mans pale face, black eyes and short spiky hair. Scars marred the mans right face—and that was all he needed to know that it was Obito. His eyes widened slightly, his pupils dilating and his vision becoming much more clear.

The Uchiha allowed a smile, albeit it was small. _Very_ small. "You're an idiot," he said in amusement. He chuckled, leaning forward slightly. "But your idiocy has amused me over the past three decades. Having idiocy as entertainment for that long is impressive, and thus, the idiot gets an award."

Kakashi frowned, his ears going red when he realized that Obito was sitting on his chest, the latter's knees pinning his forearms down. The Uchiha's hand cupped his cheeks and their noses were barely five inches away. "Obito—"

"You have a decade," Obito interrupted. His smile turned into a super rare, once in a life time grin. "I expect you to use those ten years wisely."

The Hatake's frown deepened, his face turning a beat red as Obito leaned forward even further, giving the silver haired jōnin an Eskimo kiss.

Light filled his vision, and he blinked, the weight and icy hands disappearing. He blinked a few more times, rubbing his eye as the flashlight was pulled away. "What are you doing…" he mumbled quietly and tiredly, staring down at the ground.

His voice was no longer the matured, smooth, caramel, everybody-wants-it voice he was so used to; it was his young, toddler voice. The one he was aiming to hear.

Realization dawned.

He smiled slightly, having a mini celebration from success.

Kakashi stopped rubbing his eyes when he felt hands rest on his arms. He stopped and looked up at the hands' owners, his smile widening when he saw the familiar face of the one and only Konoha no Shiroi Kiba—Hatake Sakumo.

Tears of joy and happiness prickled at his eyes as he sported a toothy grin. He giggled in a way only a five year old could giggle, and wrapped his arms his father in a hug that was forty-five years overdue. He felt his heart drop with ecstasy and happiness when the icy fingers of Obito brushed through his hair. Tears started flowing as he buried his face into his fathers shoulder, a half-laugh half-sob escaping his throat when the hug was returned.

He promised— _vows, swears, pledges, oaths, guarantees, assures_ —that he would cherish the next ten years no matter what happened.

* * *

 **"Shin: Jukai Kōtan": "God: Nativity of a World of Trees"**

 **"Ijigen no Jutsu": "Different Dimension Technique"; "Art of a Different Dimension"**

 **"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu": "Fire Release [Style]: Fire Phoenix Sage Technique"; "Fire Release [Style]: Art of the Fire Phoenix Sage"**

 **"Konoha no Shiroi Kiba": "The Leaf's White Fang"**

 **"Nanadaime": "Seventh"**

 **Aww, that was a sweet ending. TT^TT Timeline is kind of wonky because (for future reference) data for Gaiden hasn't been put on the wiki. Like, as in age or birth dates for Shippūden's kids.**

 **Thank you for reading! :3**


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